Channel 10: News Story about CAHS No Longer Accepting Feral Cats

Many of us watched the news on Channel 10 about CAHS and their policy change about feral cats. Here are some highlights:

The intake policy has changed at CAHS:
- They are no longer accepting feral cats
- They are no longer accepting cats from outside Franklin County.

The reporter said that CAHS told them because feral cats are not adoptable, they can no longer afford to take them in. Jodi Buckman told Channel 10 that they have limited resources, but they know that the community can provide care. They will be referring these cats to other agencies. She says that this is part of their strategy to get more adoptions and get the public more involved. She also talked about the situation where people bring in a mother cat with kittens and how they will expect people to foster them until the kittens are old enough to be adopted.

Mona McKinnis of Colony Cats was also interviewed. She pointed out that limiting intake is going to result in more cats on the streets. She reminded people that if the agencies and rescuers could work together everyone could do their part and the animals would benefit from that.

We're a little confused about CAHS saying they can't "take in" feral cats anymore. They never took in ferals. They simply spayed or neutered them to be released back to their colonies..it's called TNR (trap, neuter, release)...so the ferals wouldn't be taking up cage space because they should be released back to their colonies.

Who are they kidding when they talked about the mother cats with kittens and how they want it handled? Their past behavior with this combo has been anything BUT humane. Many of us have seen ourselves how they pull the mom away from her babies and kill her in the back room, while the kittens are crying for her. Then they pick the "pretty kittens" only and kill the rest.

There were many good comments on the Channel 10 website, but due to copyright we can't re-publish them here.

Please share your thoughts with us on this very sad development.

Get Focused, Capital!

So let's say Jodi was shown the door. Bye Bye.


What would be the first item of business when the new director takes over? Just by looking at their annual report, it is obvious what the first priority would be to completely revamp their "programs".

Here's a list of their programs and services according to their annual report:

Cruelty investigations (which is partially funded by the county, even though their 2007 report says that only 4% of funding came from taxpayer dollars. It will be interesting to see if the county budget says the same thing)
Re-homing pets
Safe Haven
Feral Fix
AdvoCAT Spay/Neuter Voucher program
OSU Surgical Rotation
Partners for Pets (the inmates from Pickaway County Correctional Institute that care for the animals)
Pet Therapy (shelter animals visit hospitals and retirement homes)
Obedience Classes (for the public, even though dogs with the slightest obedience problems in their care are killed...oh the irony)
Food Bank (The kind of bank that you deposit into but never are able to withdraw)
Humane Education in schools
Advocacy (their words... "educating elected officials and community leaders about the status of animals in our community and advocating for legislative changes"
Community Outreach (again, their words..." Attending events and programs to showcase the work of the Humane Society and educate the community about the issues impacting animals)

65% of revenue in 2007 went to programs.

Advocacy. Let's address Capital Area's claim that they spend money on Advocacy. At 85% kill rates, why are they spending money on "educating elected officials" and "advocating for legislative changes"? The primary reason is most likely because CAHS plucked Jodi Buckman from a national lobbying group AND it looks good on a website/newsletter. So where did the money go? There is not one scrap of information on any successes or even attempts at changing laws to be more animal friendly in Central Ohio. Nothing on their newsletter and nothing on their website. Laws haven't changed for the better in the 5 years Jodi's been "educating elected officials" and "advocating for legislative changes"- we can't even pass a puppy-mill bill that provides BASIC regulation for commercial breeding mills! (Capital Area Humane Society has NOTHING to do with lobbying for the puppy mill bill, by the way. Hmmmm maybe they could give the 'advocacy' money to the group that IS involved...)




Pet Therapy- Ok, there's nothing in your report about what this program accomplished. On your website, there is no Pet Therapy program, but there is a similar sounding Pet Visitation under the "programs" option. The Pet Visitation program states that it is a VOLUNTEER RUN program... I'm sorry, but the last time I checked, volunteers work for free. How are you spending money on a program that is run for free? The other program that is on your website but nowhere in your report is "Capital Canine Connection". This involves volunteers with their own personal dogs conducting visits to hosptials and retirement homes. WHY ARE YOU SPENDING MONEY ON THIS? How does this benefit the cats that are being killed every day?
All this really amounts too is another empty PR program.


Food Bank- Again, nothing in your report on who received food. Nothing on your website about how a group can get food from you. But alas, pictures of all the stockpiled food in your basement. Also, how do you spend money on this program?



Obedience Classes- very important for pet dog retention, to be sure- but, um, you're open admission for cats. How about some help for cat owners? Obedience classes for dogs are all over the place, but we'd sure like to see some cat-owner interactive activities. Maybe not really obedience, but how about Home Depot DIY- style "build a scratching post" classes, or litterbox issues 101 (where you could talk about new technology in litter like crystals, yesterdays news, ect...and reasons why litterbox issues develop and how to avoid/solve problems) Understanding cat behavior, proper cat diets, or other cat craft classes. Maybe if you started treated cats like the special, unique animals that they are, the public will too.

Community Outreach and Humane Education- Note to Jodi: these are the same things, especially to Capital Area, for whom both of these things are a "non-profity" sounding shroud for Public Relations. (If you can't give love, give money- right gals?) Unless Capital really starts doing something that the public can learn from, stop spending money on this PR baloney.

AdvoCAT- If this is not at the top of the list of the ways Capital Area wastes resources, it is definitely near the top. It is a mystery why Capital has a staff of veterinarians and a fully functioning veterinary facility and yet continue to use a voucher system to pay veterinarians $65.00 and $40.00 for each cat spay and cat neuter, respectively. If you kept the surgeries in-house do you really think it would cost you $40.00 for each cat neuter?? It is no secret that some veterinarians charge the public LESS than $65.00 for a cat spay, yet you continue to pay 65.00 for the vouchers in order to make life EASIER for you. The AdvoCAT money could provide TWICE as many spay and neuter surgeries if you actually CARED ENOUGH to execute the program properly.

Safe Haven- We never hear about the safe haven program, but respect the privacy of those who utilize it. We just hope that it actually does exist and is used by victims who need it. Sadly, somehow we just don't believe the fact that we never hear about the safe haven program is because you are handling the cases with respect and privacy.


Partners for Pets- O.K., caring for shelter animals are not the place for inmates to be rehabilitated. Have them paint the facility, mow the lawn, shovel snow, whatever...but maybe the reason that your cats are always sick is because you are having untrained, uncaring inmates "care" for them. Perhaps if you didn't chase away all the volunteers who did care you wouldn't have been forced into this embarrassing position. This would be one of the first programs the new director should reorganize.

So how does Capital Area spend 65% of it's budget on these 'programs', either completely staffed with volunteers, unpaid rehabilitating inmates, or stocked with donated product? Each of them has a paid "manager", "director", or "coordinator". No wonder there's no money left to actually benefit the animals!

Capital, you have a crisis in your shelter and you cannont bother with this ridiculous fluff any longer. KILLING 85% OF CATS IS ABSURD when you have all of these "programs".

For God's sake Jodi, GET FOCUSED.

This is what the board should be telling you, but since they don't, we will.

The Big Picture

Here's a summary of a comment left on the previous blog:

"Trashing another animal welfare organization doesn't save lives...this blog is nothing but negative energy.... Saving lives is important...Please continue to focus on saving lives. I commend that. I only wish you would try to work for the cause, instead of against it."

(read the entire comment on the post below)

Ok, first of all, how can this person VIEW THE PHOTOS of stockpiles of supplies collecting dust in the basement of Capital and then dare to accuse us of working against the cause?? How many hungry dogs and cats does that person think can be fed with the food that they hoard? Here is how things happen with the supplies in their basement:

1. A company or store donates loads of food to Capital who readily and happily accepts it to maintain a good relationship with the company.

2. Because Capital has a contract with Science Diet, the food gets stored in the basement.

3. Capital, at some point, made a concious decision NOT to give groups in Columbus access to their resources, which include this free and unused food. This decision was made LONG before this website and blog were active.

4. The food sits in the basement for months, forgotten, until it expires.

5. Someone eventually cleans the basement, at which point the expired food is thrown away.

How is this senario working "for the cause"? Hoarding pet food is the SINGLE MOST SELFISH THING that the humane society can do! They have a contract with Hills where they get FREE FOOD for the animals in their shelter- when the other food comes in why is it not IMMEDIATELY delegated to a group to FEED HUNGRY, HOMELESS animals??

Secondly, it's time for a lesson on the big picture. Why does everyone think we still have such a HUGE number of homeless animals in this area? Why do people think that the instant a new rescue group forms, their foster homes or sheltering facilities are immediately full? Most importantly, why is it that nobody from Capital can answer why humane organizations around the country with BIGGER PROBLEMS to overcome and FEWER RESOURCES than Capital are already SAVING MORE LIVES than they are taking? People think that this blog is maintained by naive idealists who don't understand harsh realities... this could not be farther from the truth. Harsh realities in 21st century sheltering DO NOT include 85% euthanasia rates for cats while your executive staff makes 75,000, 90,000, 125,000 dollars a year. 85% euthanasia rates apply to municipal county facilities who have NO resources, NO support, and MINIMAL housing facilities, and then even barely.

As we have said many times before... if Capital Area cannot do the job that they are supposed to do as a "humane" organization then STOP taking money and STOP sucking up resources.


Calling out Capital Area Humane Society is the most productive thing that this community can do to save the lives of animals in Central Ohio. What people don't understand is that while CAHS continues to suck up all the resources for "rescue" while behaving like bloated, wasteful, top-heavy spoiled brats, all the other rescues can do in this community is spin their wheels. This makes it IMPOSSIBLE to make any progress. It doesn't matter how many animals are rescued, spayed or neutered, purchased at Petland, obtained on Freecycle.... ect. As long as CAHS continues to make excuses for their kill rate and tell themselves that their behavior is acceptable, no real progress will ever be made for the animals in Central Ohio. If we want to start really saving lives as a community, Capital Area Humane Society HAS to be a leader in the progressive shelter movement or else they have to GO AWAY. That's why Capital still kills 85% of cats that come through their doors while all the other cat shelters and rescue groups are always full.

How plainly can we say this... IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY.

It WILL continue as people like this commenter continue to to defend the way that Capital does business as usual. This person must be chalked up to ignorance, as most supporters of CAHS, because they just don't know any better. At this point, we don't think Jodi herself knows how to do any better... she just doesn't know how run a progressive organization. Period. Honestly, we can not believe that she or anyone else in the organization dedicate their careers to saving lives and yet willfully kill healthy, adoptable, innocent cats, kittens, dogs, and puppies at a rate that would make the most commercial slaughterhouse blush.

Ignorance does not excuse their behavior. We wonder what it's going to take to reduce the orgy of slaughter behind their doors? Jodi doesn't even bother give us her goals for reducing euthanasia... yet she's always asking for more cash.

The Lost and Found Program that Scares the Crap out of Everyone

Someone e-mailed us a summary of a recent exchange about Capital Area that took place on the Columbus Craigslist Pet Board:

The original post: PLEASE HELP!!! KITTEN LOST LAST NIGHT - SHE IS SNOW WHITE WITH BLUE EYES AND DEAF!!!! SHE IS VERY SWEET AND LOVES PEOPLE BUT HAS NEVER BEEN OUTDOORS. SHE IS MICROCHIPPED AND ABOUT 5 POUNDS. LOST ON 4TH STREET BETWEEN CHESTNUT AND SPRING STREET. PLEASE PASS ON!!!

Response: Hello! I believe we have found your white cat. On Monday my boyfriend found a white cat was just crying by his condo at 225 North 4th Street... We contacted the Capitol Area Humane Society and they took her in that evening.

Subsequent post: I sure hope that her owners are able to get her back before CAHS kills her!!! I know you were only trying to do the best you could, but that would be the LAST place I would take an animal. She'd probably have been safer on the streets.

Subsequent post: I too hope that the poor cat is still alive. I realize that you were trying to do a good thing. If you see a cat one time chances are very good that it is owned. Good to put out food and water but leave it alone if you cant take it inside to locate the home. Few cats make it out of CAHS alive. They are in rooms in small dirty cages until it is determined if they are "adoptable" by their perfect standard. Few are perfect in a strange place with stangers and barking dogs. CAHS does NOT check the lost and found or petfbi. They dont even check for microchips until they are ready to kill the animal. Hoping this little one is safe back with its owner.

Subsequent post: If this cat was taken to Capital Area Humane Society, print out the Craiglsit posting and take it with you to their facility to prove that the cat is there. The staff WILL NOT be helpful in getting your cat out if they have it- you have to prove that it was taken there recently!! You need to go there today because chances are the cat will be killed shortly if it hasn't been killed already. Please, if anyone finds animals that they think might be a pet, do NOT take them to the humane society in Hilliard on Scioto Darby Executive Road. They routinely kill animals that have collars, microchips, are declawed, spayed/neutered, and otherwise show obvious signs that they have an owner. Very few animals make it out of there alive.

Subsequent post: The little white kitten is safe at home. She escaped her home through the patio. She is deaf and probably very frightened. Thanks to the people finding her (but taking her to cahs might have cost her her life). She was only outside a few hours. The owner did all of the right things. Posted signs,placed an ad on petfbi and the kitten was microchipped. How do I know these things??? I am the original foster mom of the kitten. We microchip everyone prior to adoption. This we felt would get them safely home if lost. My question is why was she not checked for a microchip when arriving at the shelter? Because no one wanted to take the time to check her. When asked at the shelter why she wasnt scanned the response was "it was late." I would lose my job if my answer to not doing it was that it was late. (or we were busy or whatever. It is their job-do it) This was well over 24 hours ago. The owner spent a sleepless night,the kitten was stressed and subjected to other non vaccinated animals. Why? Yes she escaped the house-she is a cat. The staff at CAHS did not do anything to help this little girl find her way home. Our rescue has been banned from saving lives of animals at CAHS as we do not believe that they do wonderful work as they brag. We pulled over 60 cats from there last year not to mention the dogs lives that we saved and placed in homes. I dont believe they are doing wonderful work because they are not. This is only one of many examples. I was told by a board member "No we are not perfect". Little Cottonballs life counted on them not to be perfect but to do their job. No one is perfect but we will admit when we are wrong. They dont but continue to lie to the public.


Thanks for sending us the posts! Their lost and found program apparently scares the crap out of everyone.

What was that about alienating supporters?

We couldn't have set it up any better...

So to illustrate how Capital Area Humane Society chases all of it's volunteers away who voice concerns- A Capital supporter on the blog post just before this one identified someone named "Gail" who apparently said something about all the new office furniture the executives got for themselves while animals continue to die by the dozens. We quote exactly...

"Gail, why don't you just quit and stop criticizing the donated office furniture?"

We wondered, "Who is Gail?" Well we found out that she is a Capital Area volunteer who was featured in the Columbus Dipatch as "giving a [Capital Area Humane Society] dog some loving...".

Yes Gail, please quit. Even though you are a loyal volunteer and give dogs love, we don't need anyone criticizing office furniture.

Invisible cats and dogs

I am convinced that Capital Area is marketing some kind of "invisible cat" or "invisible dog". Ha ha like those funny amusement park things that you can get.

Levity, in a moment that is so seriously sad.

Alright Jodi and Rachel, WHAT IN THE WORLD IS UP WITH THOSE EMPTY CAGES? Pictures taken just LAST SATURDAY show that 75% of the adoption floor cages are empty. And what is up with the e-mail to the volunteers about the dog walkers? I quote exactly an e-mail from the volunteer coordinator of Capital...

" I wanted to bring up the subject of too many Walkers and not enough dogs, which has been happening on weekends lately."

OK how about sending one of your 7 vans over to Franklin County and getting some of the 1,300 dogs before they were killed? Systematic euthanasia has been their policy since your buddy Barbara Carmen stomped their efforts into the ground. Check out the numbers at http://www.franklincountydogtruths.com/.

Can you explain to the public why you have empty dog runs and too many walkers yet the dogs in your own county are dying by the hundreds??

Empty cages on the adoption floor have always been the most obvious indicator that Capital Area Humane Society is a collective failure. They have always tried to tell us "they're empty for cleaning" or "it's disease control". The thing is that these cages are ALWAYS EMPTY, every day, during open hours, or in the middle of a busy Saturday afternoon. The back is stacked with animals waiting to die while you continue to make excuses for your inadequacy as a humane organization.

What else is there to say? People who know the truth and walk through your adoption floor just shake their heads at the incompetence.

Teeny tiny percentages

Oh those teeny tiny percentages.

What person hasn't heard those from Capital- they sleep better at nights because they've saved 5% more cats last year. Like, five- as in single digit five.

This brings their total adoption rate apparently to a nice, round 20%. A number which, by the way, we have a tough time believing since it is so nice and round. You mean to tell us that you have the number of cats that you took in to be a precise 10,342 and yet your adoption rates are published at twenty percent? Not 18 percent or 22 percent but 20? But whatever, who cares if you made it up. Start making up better numbers.

We also wonder 5 percent of what. Of total cat intakes? Of your definition of adoptable cats?

Five percent. When you look out onto the faces of your board members- doctors, lawyers, business people, and you tell them that on your watch you improved the adoption rate by five percent, do they clap? Don't they think that five percent would have happened if they had a tree stump in the executive office? How in the world is it that they don't wonder why they're paying you six figures for FIVE PERCENT?

The problem with the board is that they don't care- we can't believe that they actually think about these numbers. Basically, you're telling them that you did nothing in the past year and they're publishing it proudly in a full color report- what a laughingstock! All style and no substance- quintessential Capital.

From Nathan Winograd's No Kill Blog:

In Reno, Nevada, the Nevada Humane Society led an incredible renaissance in 2007 that saw adoptions increase as much as 80 percent and deaths decline by 51 percent, despite taking in a combined 16,000 dogs and cats a year with Washoe County Animal Services. Reno's success occurred immediately after the hiring of a new shelter director committed to No Kill and passionate about about saving lives. They did it overnight.

Five percent- Petfinder, HSUS, ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, and local groups like Columbus Dog Connection, Franklin County Dog Shelter and Animal Outreach are doing everything they can to get the word out and push people away from puppy mills and Petland and drive them into shelters, yet you take credit for the five percent bump in adoptions.

The most irritating thing about reporting your adoptions bump as 5% is that ADOPTIONS are the one challenge that you have complete control over as an organization. You really have no control over intake, and since you don't try to save anything, ultimately the amount of euthanasias you are doing. But adoptions? You have complete control over how many animals you adopt out! Do you ever consider that if you put more of your kittens on the floor instead of in the dumpter that your adoption percentage would increase dramatically?? Or how about filling up some of those sponsored puppy play pens that are always empty? We know you try to control disease by not housing puppies and kittens on the adoption floor- why don't you bring in some of your puppies and kittens in foster care to fill up the cages during adoption hours? Then after adoption hours they can just go back into their foster home!

Maybe you can mix it up a bit in the first few lines of your dog adoption page- one look at it and you'd think Capital Area was American Staffordhshire rescue! You scroll and scroll and scroll and get pits and pits and pits... how 'bout a homeless, down and out lab or shepherd or MUTT in the top five? We know that pits draw attention for fake compassion on your part, but there are dogs out there who deserve homes even if they don't have the razzle-dazzle media attention surrounding them all the time.

The teeny tiny 5% is a load of baloney. If you tried at all you would double it overnight. How have you been getting away with that crap for so long??

By the way also give us your euthanasia rates and some goals for 2008 in those reports, you cowards!

Yahoo!

Quick update- we're number 8 when you plug in "Capital Area Humane Society" on Yahoo search, and when you do the suggested search, we're number 5- showing up on the main page without even scrolling down.

Yahoo!

Working Together...

...something that has just been impossible for Capital Area Humane Society and Franklin County Dog Shelter. This "cold war" has been to the detriment of rescue efforts in Central Ohio for the past 5 years.

Now both are coming under public scrutiny, each at opposite ends of the spectrum. Strangely, Franklin County is in trouble for trying to do too much and Capital Area Humane Society- well, you know.

Lets address the Franklin County problem briefly- the rescue community, in general, loves FCAS. Lisa Wahoff is a great person and has transformed Franklin County Animal Control into a progressive, grant-seeking (and using!) pro-active humane organization. Her staff is out in the community helping catch dogs, reuniting dogs with their owners, distributing literature on the importance of spay/neuter and behavior training. On her watch, Friends of the Shelter was formed- an independent non-profit organization that exists for the purpose of raising money to provide medical care that the county couldn't pay for, start a spay/neuter program, and do humane education to help people keep their dogs in their homes. She works closely with dozens of rescue groups to get animals off death row at the county and into other organizations for a second chance at life- not to mention her offering of shelter facilities for Mingle with our Mutts- thereby helping dogs to which she has absolutely no obligation.

In short, Lisa Wahoff has been a solution oriented shelter director and it has resulted in good will from not only the rescue community in Franklin County, but the public in general. It has also helped Mary Jo Kilroy get re-elected to the Franklin County Board of Commissioners and elected to the United States House of Representatives. Why do you think she put a "Pets for Kilroy!" board on her Kilroy for Congress website? Because she wanted to tap into the good will Lisa created in the community by doing the right thing for the shelter dogs. If there's one thing Republicans, Democrats, and Independents can all get behind, it's helping down-on-their-luck dogs get a second chance.
It is unfortunate that Lisa Wahoff has made some poor choices that has overshadowed so much of her good work. Most of what the Columbus Disgrace continues to report on is nothing more than Page 6 gossip- where we believe Wahoff really did herself in was alienating the Ohio State University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Gotta follow veterinary advice, rescuers- no ifs, ands, or buts. No matter how much you think you know about the medical issues with an animal, you have no right to disregard the medical opinion of a veterinarian.

Now that that is out of the way, let's talk about Capital and Franklin's cold war. Franklin County worked with lots of rescue groups which is great. The one that they should have first and foremost had a good- no, GREAT- relationship with is the Capital Area Humane Society. Of course, we understand why they didn't- in fact, even when Capital did take dogs from Franklin County in a show of good will, 90% of the dogs would end up back at FCAS within a few weeks because of this problem or that. After a while Lisa understandably stopped wasting her time with Jodi. Even so, Lisa still should have made a collaboration with Capital her top priority if she wanted to make changes in the dogs lives over at the county. If Jodi continued to find excuses for why not, Lisa should have continued to press the issue, publicly if necessary. Capital was taking dogs anyway from Perry County, Union County, Madison County, and everywhere around the state just to get attention. (Even though she told everybody she wanted to focus on Franklin County first- it was hilarious- a complete contradiction to her actual actions) But why on earth would you want to combine forces?

Let's look at San Francisco who did it. Yes, tons of money from Maddies Fund, community support from a rich city that also probably has spay/neuter ordinances that are actually enforced. But does anybody think that kind of situation fell from the sky?

In 1994 the city's largest humane society, the San Francisco SPCA, and the city's animal control facility, the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control signed an agreement stating that they would work together to GUARANTEEING that no adoptable dog or cat in San Francisco would be euthanized. It wasn't until 4 years later that San Francisco actually opened their amazing, cage-free adoption center funded by Maddies. Since a central "animal rescue center" developed, dollars and resources weren't wasted on both groups trying to work independently. The county, an -open admission shelter, had a commitment from the SPCA to be the primary source from which they would pull animals. 85% of animals at the massive, gorgeous SPCA adoption center in San Diego started out at animal control. When there is a problem with another geographical area or puppy mill or something, the SFSPCA will help in those circumstances, but it never comprimises the amount of animals that are pulled from animal control. It also lends it's facilities to smaller groups for meetings, functions, training, humane education, ect... but it has a requirement that 50% of the animals in the group are pulled from animal control. This requirement of course is relaxed with breed-specific rescues.

Back in Columbus, both Franklin County and Capital Area continue to get funding for a lot of the same programs that they implemented independently of each other. (Yes, Franklin County even has a coloring book, but I doubt they spent 30 grand developing theirs) And when it comes to something like, for example, a spay/neuter clinic, something that both shelters run, you have to get the supplies, recruit veterinarians, hire/schedule support staff, take appointments- the point is that it takes a LOT of resources to get it going and maintain. How about both shelters run one program, even if surgeries are still taking place at both shelters. ONE phone number for the public to call, ONE non-profit applying for the subsidy grant, ONE organization utilizing all the resources- you save money and streamline efforts for measurable results!

This sort of mentality could apply to MANY aspects of sheltering- how about adoptions? All the animals at both Capital and Franklin are loaded into the database for the Meet Your Match program. So if someone goes into CAHS and doesn't find a match in the 19 dogs that are for adoption right now. (Hey, we're just going off the Capital Area website!) maybe they can "Meet Their Match" with one of the HUNDREDS available at the county.

By the way, why are there only 19 dogs for adoption with Capital? And 5 of them are the same, hard-to-place breed?But I digress.

This blog post has gone on long enough, and we're sure you get the point. More solutions in blogs to come. Why should we look to other cities as models for what we should do here in Central Ohio? BECAUSE THEY'RE ACTUALLY FINDING ANSWERS AND SAVING LIVES. YES JODI-SAVING LIVES IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING.

Check out the San Francisco SPCA at http://www.sfspca.org/

Capital Area a Victim?

SO we've been getting lately some whining on the comment boards about how we don't understand how many animals come through their doors and how AGAIN they're blaming the public for the problem.

Those people should go back and study up on the main website. WHERE is the missing grant money? If you have so many animals coming through your doors, don't you think you should put the money that you recieved to good use... and fast? You got a huge grant for Meet Your Match... but where is it?? Why did you take 30,000 dollars from the Columbus Foundation and put it into... COLORING BOOKS??

WHY do you continue to alienate volunteers? If you have so many animals coming through your doors, don't you think that you would want all the helping hands that you could get? You now have to use a PRISON PROGAM to care for the animals... how much care do you think they are actually giving? Many other shelters use inmate programs in their facility, but only for doing things like yard cleanup, painting, deep cleaning... not day-to-day care of the animals! If you needed/wanted free labor to clean cages you should have kept your volunteers! THAT IS ONE OF THE BASIC RULES OF SHELTER MANAGEMENT. What exactly were your qualifications before you took this job Jodi??

JODI- Nobody disputes that the public is at fault when they let their pet have a litter, turn them in to the shelter when they move or develop a behavior problem. WHAT WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH is that you REFUSE to fix what is wrong with YOUR SHELTER and HIDE behind that EXCUSE to take ZERO action on behalf of the animals.

WHY DOES THE VENTILATION REMAIN BROKEN?
WHY WAS ADVOCAT MONEY RESTRICTED TO ONE CAT PER HOUSEHOLD PER YEAR? (Especially if there is such a HUGE problem with the public!)
WHY AREN'T VOLUNTEERS AND RESCUERS ALLOWED TO PULL ANIMALS FROM DEATH ROW?
WHY DOES THE HEATING SYSTEM IN INTAKE REMAIN OFF/BROKEN?
WHERE IS ALL THE MISSING GRANT MONEY?
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY EMPTY CAGES ON THE ADOPTION FLOOR?

Jodi- you can whine and whine but we are SICK OF IT- If you CAN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE with the grant money and resources you are given then DON'T TAKE THEM! IF YOU CAN'T DO WHAT CAPITAL HIRED YOU TO DO THEN YOU SHOULD RESIGN!

$30,000 TO MAKE COLORING BOOKS? HOW MANY CATS AND DOGS DO YOU THINK COULD BE SPAYED/NEUTERED WITH $30,000?

Next blog: what's happening around the country? We've been doing some traveling and guess what? So many shelters have found the key. One shelter we visited pulled 40 cats from it's Animal Control Facility because it had so many adoptions the past weekend. I guess they decided to find solutions instead of just WHINING.

Volunteers- who needs 'em, right Capital?

We have been hearing from former and current volunteers at Capital all over this blog. If expanding your donor base is your first priority as a non-profit, then keeping educated, and trained volunteers is a close second. What can be more valuable to your organization than people who work for free? And we're not talking just answering phones and envelope stuffing- in the shelter world we're talking about cleaning dog poop, washing dishes, scrubbing floors, dealing with smell... in short, not exactly the kind of work that people really want to do for free.

The trade off is that if you clean poop you will help save lives. That's why people do it for free. If they do it without taking pay, that's more money that will help the shelter save more lives, feed more bellies, get more veterinary care. Most volunteers who help out at the shelter also take home foster animals. Most volunteers also donate money, and network with people at their real jobs to get them to donate money. They also network at their real jobs to get animals at the shelter homes. Guess what else volunteers do? They train other volunteers so your network of FREEBIES has a ripple effect.

This is what is so fundamentally wrong with the top-heavy Capital Area Humane Society. How many volunteers have been lied to, shoved out of the shelter, told not to come back or denied saving a life? How much of that network is severed every single time Jodi or Rachel send a caring pair of hands packing? If there's one this this past Presidential election taught us, it's that thousands of hands make for an unprecedented effort- 5.00 and 10.00 donations, door knocking, and envelope stuffing helped Barack Obama win the Presidency. What if there was an organization that fostered such good will? A humane society that was listening to the community?

Jodi Lytle Buckman and her executive staff need to learn about grassroots movements and change. We hope to hold a welcome back party for all the alienated supporters the day after Jodi and her cronies clean out their desks- in her office!

Let's hear some commentary from former volunteers who were told to leave and why and what they provided for Capital. Submit them with your name or anonymously- we'll compile it into a letter and send it to the board... and the news!

How many of us have gotten letters like these?

Everyone. Every rescue group has gotten these letters- that's why Jodi and her cronies are having a tough time figuring out who is behind this website. This one came to us.

The public is calling for better than you, Jodi. Not just this person, but "everywhere she looks" people are telling her about the killing at Capital. Maybe that's why Franklin is so overwhelmed with dogs- because people KNOW that everthing is killed at CAHS, and of course, Franklin County is an open admission shelter for dogs only. I imagine that if there were an "open admission" alternative to Capital for cats in Columbus they'd be bursting at the seams too. But if they actually tried, and didn't have missing grant money, didn't have ongoing broken heating and ventilation systems while salaries sit at six figures, didn't send all their caring volunteers packing, I guarantee that you'd never hear a bad word about them, even if they did still have to euthanize. Sort of like- well, Franklin County Animal Control.

Here's the letter in it's entirety and our response following. We won't kid you- it felt great to respond with the honest truth. We made them aware of the problems at Capital and the reasons WHY so many groups in Central Ohio have to turn away her sweet kitten. We're encouraging every group to rail against Capital Area when they get the "I don't want to take here there because she'll just be killed" letters and give out our website. Use this blog as a template- maybe we'll post a downloadable one on the website for rescue groups to copy and paste.

Hi, My name is J. S. and I found a link to your website while looking up information on the Capital Area Humane Society. I was looking for information on them because last weekend just before we had the bitter wind chills I found an older kitten on our back porch. She was freezing and hungry. In fact she had been in the cold for about three days when we found her because our neighbor moved and left her cats behind. We figured we would take her in and try to find her a home. We have a fifteen year old cat who doesn't take well to other cats so we knew it would be a temporary thing. Unfortunately no one can take her, we have reached out to everyone in our network. I have either called or emailed every rescue organization in Central Ohio, most never responded back, the ones who did were full and everywhere I look I am told that if I take her to CAHS she will be killed. Obviously if I wanted that I would have just left her outside. She is a super sweet, well mannered cat and we would love to keep her however our cat that we have had has now stopped eating, my husband who has asthma which is normally controlled with medication is now wheezing constantly. I figured since you had such a stance against CAHS you could tell me where I could take her to help her find a home. Please help us!

Dear J.S.

We applaud you for bringing this kitten in from certain death in the cold. Please continue with the next step and look to your network of friends, relatives, co-workers, workout friends at the gym, fellow parents, church members, or anybody else who you may know that might be willing to take this kitty into their home. We are a watchdog group asking Capital Area Humane Society to take responsibility for their actions- many of our group are made up of those rescues you have already called I'm sure.

You should be furious that this kitten that is perfectly friendly and healthy will be facing certain death at the "humane society" after surviving the cold. With their facility, funding, staffing, resources, and long held connections with the Columbus Dispatch, why should this kitten not have a chance? We certainly are- understand that every rescue group in Columbus comes in a distant second to Capital Area in recognition, support, and funding. If any of those groups had half of what Capital had they would be fighting over the chance to place your sweet kitten. Capital Area has every resource to try and do better and they DON'T- ask yourself; why should their "executive board" be paid $70,000, $90,000, or $120,000+ if they can't do any better in their jobs than kill everything in their care? Than to kill your rescued kitten? It's not your job to find homes for homeless animals but it IS theirs- and obviously, they're paid VERY well for it!

This is why we have no answers for you right now on this problem. We are doing what we've been doing for 10 years or more- detouring every caring person away from the "door of doom" and begging them to take responsibility for the pet themselves. It should not be this way, and you should not stand for this behavior.

This correspondence will be posted on our blog but we will omit your name and contact information.


Coalition for Responsible Shelter Practices of Central Ohio
www.capitalarea.org
http://humanechange.blogspot.com

Dispatch Shame

Circling the wagons... someone said to us would be Capital Area's defense for their actions when this website first went up. Today the Columbus Disgrace-er, Dispatch- ran a story on the Franklin County Dog Shelter's problems which included, among other things, director Lisa Wahoff's personal relationships. Screaming out on the front page: NOT FIT FOR DOGS.

Rita Wolfe-let's see a front page story about staff finding kittens who have frozen to death in the sick rooms of Capital Area because their heating system goes unfixed. (True reports- though no photographic evidence which is why we haven't mentioned it yet. One of our insiders actually had to thaw a dead kitten from it's cage with a hair dryer when water from it's bowl froze it to the stainless steel.)

Meanwhile a few pages back, they again make themselves look like the rag that they are with their line-item "Pets" classified that boasts puppies just in time for Christmas. Didn't some editor of Barbara Carmen's question running a story of how overcrowded the dog shelter is when they clearly help to facilitate the overpopulation problem?

The Columbus Disgrace- we're counting the days until you go the way of the Detroit newspapers.

Groundbreaking lawsuit

We've put up the website. We've created a blog for discussion. We've sent letters to the board members. We've been out there in the real world leafleting. What do you think might be the next step to show the Capital Area Humane Society that we're serious about change this time? That they have to answer the animals cries for help this time? That they can no longer kill indiscriminately while at the same time calling themselves "humane"?

There was an interesting lawsuit stemming from a complaint against the Los Angeles County Animal Control in December of 2007. It was settled in October of 2008. The main points of the lawsuit are as follows:

"Under the settlement, the county cannot kill impounded animals before holding them for four days unless they are terminally ill and must notify animal rescuers which cats and dogs are slated to be put down."
How many stories are out there of Capital killing animals the same day as they are taken in? How many of these are actually scanned for a microchip before deemed a "unadoptable" and stuck in their tummies with Fatal Plus?

"The settlement resolved a year-old suite alleging that to eliminate overcrowding at the shelters the county used a legal loophole to rapidly dispose of adoptable pets by deeming them 'irremediably suffering.' The action alleged that shelters 'routinely kill healthy and adoptable animals'... The suite accused the county of using minor illnesses, such as colds, as a criteria to kill and thus avoid paying for veterinary care and shelter space."
Who does this remind us all of? 85% of animals that come through your doors are unadoptable? Or are you just "rapidly disposing" of them?

"The settlement sharply defines the kill criteria now as 'an animal with a medical condition who has a poor or grave prognosis for being able to live without severe, unremitting pain despite necessary veterinary care.' These conditions include kidney failure, distemper, blood loss, head trauma, and unmanageable pain"
Notice "stress" was not one of the fatal conditions on the list. And they also threw in "despite necessary veterinary care" for good measure. So for example you can't leave an animal without food for a few days so it develops one of those fatal conditions thus making your job twice as easy. (Not wasting time feeding it, not wasting time adopting it!)

The article about the settlement goes on to describe a letter sent to the director of the agency, Marcia Mayeda, sent in November of 2007 expressing concerns that the agency was killing animals without engaging in reasonable efforts to identify the animal's owners and killing tame cats wrongly classified as feral. Gee, substitute Jodi Lytle Buckman's name in there and you could be talking about Central Ohio instead of Los Angeles!

As part of the settlement, Los Angeles County will be required to turn over all the records of the animals it euthanizes. One of the greatest things about the resolution to this lawsuit is that area shelters and rescues stepped in to help alleviate the burden on Los Angeles County so that they could meet the euthanasia guidelines. Sadly, many organizations have offered numerous times to work with Jodi and the Capital Area Humane Society to help reduce their kill rate only to be told "no thanks".

By the way, we all heard Jodi on the radio the other day asking for donation money for the shelter. It reminded us of the big 3 automakers flying to Washington D.C. to ask for bailout money to save their companies after their horrible mismanagement ran them into the ground. Did you take your corporate jet to the radio station?

View the press release from the No Kill Advocacy Center on the victory.

View the court order that outlines the regulations with which the Los Angeles Department of Animal Control must comply.

View the article by Noah Barron in the Daily Journal regarding this case.


They have even set up an online complaint form for whistleblowers. Look for that to come soon on our main website... see how great it can be when we all share ideas?

Open letter to the board members of Capital Area Humane Society

Over the past week we've been giving out flyers all over Columbus- at malls, Wal-marts, grocery stores, and other venues. We've been talking to people and getting the facts out there. Oh yes, and the following letter went out in the mail to board members yesterday. 

Dear [board member]

This is an open letter to the board members of the Capital Area Humane Society. A group of independent rescuers in Central Ohio have formed a coalition to speak out against the wasteful practices of director Jodi Lytle Buckman and the board who has permitted her actions for so long. With euthanasia rates of cats at 85% and no goals, plans, or aggressive programs in place to address you horrific kill rate, Capital Area Humane Society is no more than a backwards critter control facility. Your "executive board" has done all it can to alienate volunteers and disenfranchise donors while enjoying their ridiculous bloated salaries.

Rescuers in central Ohio are calling for the immediate dismissal of Buckman and complete reorganization of the Capital Area Humane Society. There are progressive groups right here in Columbus that are willing to step in and help implement aggressive programs with new ideas for reducing euthanasia rates. So many groups around the country with a fraction of the resources are doing twice as much to help their companion cats; can't we say that we're better than killing 85% of cats that enter into the area's largest, most well funded humane society?

Jodi and her executive staff have lied to our faces and yours repeatedly to protect their jobs. It is no doubt that they will do so again, but please, take a look at your empty adoption floor Visit the euthanasia room and stick the next 30 cats in the abdomen to die. Go online and see what other humane societies with the same problems are doing to find solutions. Visit Mingle with our Mutts at the Franklin County Dog Shelter and ask yourself why Capital Area isn't hosting a similar event and does not even participate in the existing one?

If you can not do any of these things please ask yourself why you are on this board in the first place.

Visit our website at www.capitalarea.org and find this letter on our blog at humanechange.blogspot.com.

Coalition for Responsible Shelter Practices of Central Ohio

Slideshow

For everyone who voted that 85% is the best we can do, please watch this slideshow put together by the Columbus Disptach about the Capital Area Humane Society narrated by Jodi Lytle Bucman. Then come back here and rant and rave about how we're doing the best we can by these little guys.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/multimedia/audio_slideshows/2007/09/238/index.html

With friends like these...

This spectacular Sunday morning, lets nail someone else up who hinders progressive life-saving efforts in Columbus. 

"Chihuahua pups-teacup sire- CKC- $300-350"

"Dalmations- AKC- Need to sell- $250!!"

"Golden Retriever pups- Ready for Christmas!"

"Berlin Pets- We have all small breed puppies!"

" Yorkies, Bichons, Yorkichons!"

These are all proudly advertised by our community's largest newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch. There are 9 ads for labradors and lab mixes. How many labs and lab mixes do you think are waiting for homes at the Franklin County Dog Shelter each week?

So Rita Wolfe of Dispatch Printing Company and of the board of Capital Area Humane Society, business is business, and we're not going to ask you to send these backyard breeders packing. But why you don't donate the massive block of space that sits directly next to the line-item puppies for sale currently dedicated to Dispatch run columbuscars.com to promoting rescue pets? Why don't you donate line-item space to shelters, foster groups and breed specific rescues? If Rita Wolfe cares enough about homeless animals to be part of a board who will make life and death policy for them, why can't she care enough to advocate for some progressive changes at the Dispatch? There is a public service announcement at the very bottom of the line-item puppy ads that talks about being careful about where you buy your pet, but I kid you not, it is black ink against a blue background that is at best difficult to read and at worst encourages glazing right over. It says nothing about rescuing animals.

With friends like these who needs Petland? 

  

Let's step back for a minute...

Come on Capital supporters! You know you want to do better than 85%euthanasia rate for our cats- lets start saving lives rather than taking them- there is a way and we can do it if we just TRY! We are all on the same side here- lets fix whats wrong with ourselves so we can turn this blog discussion about networking and adoption and spay/neuter and ideas for cohesive rescue work in Central Ohio or ALL OF OHIO! You're all right on one thing- THIS BLOG IS A WASTE OF TIME! But how can we point the finger at the puppy millers and the catteries and the backyard breeders and Petland if we are killing everything that comes to us and not even pretending like we care? They AREN'T getting thousands of dollars in grant money but they are "finding homes" for thousands of puppies and kittens every year. They are doing such a great job that they WANT more puppies and kittens in this world- why is it so wrong to ask where we are failing?

Work with us! Lets find some solutions for the killing problem together. For any of this to happen, Capital Area Humane Society has to take a leadership role in innovative rescue programs, otherwise, like we said earlier, we're all just spinning our wheels.

Jodi, here's your chance be the re-inventor of the Capital Area Humane Society that has plagued this community's cats for so long. We are tired of explaining away needless death, tired of hearing that shelters are "so sad", tired of detouring everyone with a cat or a kitten away from the beautiful, inviting, spacious, well funded, high profile Capital Area Humane Society. Everybody knows there will still be some euthanasia, everybody knows we won't save everything overnight, but I guarantee that anybody worth their salt will throw their support behind a Capital who really, sincerely tries.

And wouldn't that be something?

One-sided?

We've been getting some complaints from people that this blog is "one sided". We implore our readership to please send us proof that things aren't as bad as people think. If you can send us information about where the 75,000 dollars went that they received, what goals are in place to reduce euthanasia rates, or ANYTHING please send it our way.  We are listening and want to grasp at anything good about that place so we can sleep nights. 

Also, lets address the "poll" 3 days before it is going to close. The last option is "85% euthanasia rate is the best we can do in Central Ohio", not "I disagree with this blog!" There is even an option above it that says "No, but the board should give her specific goals if she stays on". Only 3% of people as of today have supported that option. For everyone that's checking the last option why don't you give poor Jodi Lytle Buckman a job managing YOUR business? (Oh yes, you know you want a six-figure employee with no accountability, lies about productivity, mid-week all day shopping trips, and wasting staff time with meetings about nothing) 

Ok, first of all, that's just sad that some people are really making an effort to go vote at multiple computers for THAT. In fact, stellar Central Ohio Capital Area Supporters, sympathies are coming to our inbox from around the country. Like this one from Paige in North Carolina-

"...I am writing in response to your webpage explaining the unnecessary euthanasia of surrendered pets in the Columbus area. I am so horrified that the community thinks you can do no better than killing 85% of cats at the shelter... As someone who does not live in Ohio, I'm not sure how I can help... can you please tell me what the best course of action would be to support your cause?"  

There is a blog below that says it has 5 comments, only 1 of which shows up. We decided to remove the others after originally deciding to post them because it was really becoming an unproductive tit-for-tat. 

The most telling thing about this poll is, of course, that we got their attention.  

Math I can get in to!

The answer to 85% of math equations is 17. 

If you take a test, 85% of the answers is going to be 17, so just start writing in 17. For 15% of the equations, you'll have to work out an answer, but it will be really obvious which ones those are because they'll be super easy like 4+1= 5.  For taking this test you will be paid $125,000.00. 

So of course all of this sounds absurd, but by now we all know that this is the premise under which Capital Area operates. Their answer to almost every single problem is euthanasia. 

What happens beyond fixing the ventilation, filling the adoption floor, hiring on regular adoption staff, hiring trained, caring kennel staff to handle the animals, and all the obvious stuff that Capital could do almost overnight to make significant changes for the better. We still have far more cats and dogs coming in than there is space on the adoption floor. What about the "tough" adoptables? What do we do with them?

So what we're getting at here is that each animal has it's own solution. Say half of those are easy 4+1 solutions, basically, someplace to stay until it has a home. These are litters of kittens, awesome dogs that get along with anybody, purebreds that come into rescue, adult cats that are that are already fixed and declawed... you get the drift. So we aggressively pursue foster homes, off-site adoptions, breed-specific rescue groups, blah blah blah. Ok easy leg-work stuff. 

The pit bull? The puppy mill dog that's never seen daylight? The angry, cranky owner surrender kitty whose world has just been turned upside down? The 80 lb lab mix that is so happily misbehaved that kennel workers wear a suit of armor when they go in to feed him breakfast? 

So we think of each animal as it's own equation with a unique solution. Here's a cheat sheet:

1. The Pit Bull=  So we all know this breed gets a bad rap, but dog fighting is still going on and those dogs are routinely turned in to shelters or seized in raids. Pit bulls are extremely loyal to their caretakers and can generally be good family pets if properly socialized and assessed. So you get what you believe was a bait dog or loser in a fight who has numerous lacerations needing medical attention. So we call the local media and because of Michael Vick, they rush right over to do a story and get a close up of the medical team treating the sad eyed animal. Maybe you call your local media who don't rush right over, but you make sure to take video and plenty of pictures to scream out into the local media because you won't go away until someone makes this a story. You fundraise to cover the veterinary care for this dog which is easy because of Michael Vick. During it's stay in the veterinary ward, the technicians and assistants have gotten to know what the dog likes, if it's head-shy, how it reacts to cats, other dogs, etc... so then we know what kind of home we're looking for with this dog. Pits are getting easier because of the heart within the rescue community to give these pups the second chance they deserve. Ultimately, this solution works out for this dog and it gets out of the shelter alive and into the right home. 

2. Puppy mill dog that's never seen daylight= These have become pretty easy too (ha ha by the own admission of Capital) since they are generally toy breeds. Many times though these guys and gals need extensive veterinary care before they can be adopted- dental work, mass removals, and sometimes eye and leg surgeries as a result of long term neglect. So let's say we're setting up to compete with Petland- they obviously know how to find mill dogs good homes so steal their ideas. Get some space in the mall or set up an adoption event there. Adopt the dog out for the cost of the veterinary care- people are obviously willing to pay 1,000 bucks for a dog, like at Petland, so asking a few hundred for a fully vetted pure breed seems like a steal. These guys usually need socialization though, so we set up a crate in an office where he or she can make a den area and get used to people's voices, handling, other animals, and um, daylight. So this solution worked for this dog. 

Off-site adoptions are crucial to a successful rehoming program. The general public thinks of shelters as mass killing fields (gee I wonder why?) and often NEVER want to set foot in there because "it's too sad". In addition, due to zoning restrictions, animal shelters are usually out in the middle of industry, making the shelter even less inviting. 

3. The angry, cranky owner surrender kitty who's world has just been turned upside down= What if we preempted these owner surrenders with innovative programs? What if we advertised a program that told owners "If you're moving and think you have to give up your pet contact us!" First things of course would be to provide them with all kinds of information about how easy it is to take their pet with them, state-by-state laws on transporting pets, veterinary referrals in their new home town, pet-friendly apartment complexes, etc... If they are dead set against taking their pet to their new home, what if we put that cat up for adoption while it's still in it's home? Can they think of anyone at their work or gym or anywhere else in their social circle who may be willing to take on a great pet? That gives us a few extra weeks at least to start searching for a home, get the vetting necessary, and keep the cat healthy and happy all without it being in the shelter at all. Maybe we advertise this program to real estate agents who then make the homeowner aware that this program exists through our awesome and progressive shelter. So by talking to the owner about the cat before it came into the shelter they remembered that they spoken to a coworker who was thinking about getting a pet. The cat goes to that home and the preemptive solution worked out for that cat. 

Moving kits at the post office might be another good place to advertise this program. What if you knew who was buying and selling in your community? First you have to create a sense of community. This kind of a program could work the reverse too with adoptions. 

4.  The happily misbehaved 80 lb lab mix- this dog is so huge and so happy to see staff that it knocks everyone over who comes in contact with it. So first and foremost we train this guy on a Gentle Leader so he doesn't cause arm trauma to his walker. Next we look at what trainers might be willing to work with an assigned staff member to get this guy trained not to jump and to sit/stay.  No good, free trainers out there? Fine, pay for one. Grants exist that fund this sort of problem solving program. Don't have any grant money? Raise the money! If you're completely broke and can't find a trainer and can't raise the money then borrow a book from the library on dog training and educate yourself on how to do some of the basics. You're paid 125,000 dollars a year- we're pretty sure you can read. So the dog learns basic behaviors, and soon someone is in the shelter looking for a big dog to tire out their current huge lab mix when they're playing in the back yard. When he meets your 80lb lab mix he is so impressed that the dog is even better behaved than his big bruiser that he decides to take this guy home to foster for a week. This turns into 10 years of backyard mayhem. This solution worked out for this dog. 

The point of all of this is that we have to start thinking in terms of solving the problems we face with multiple solutions. It's not easy but nobody at Capital even tries. Sadly, sometimes the answer will be 17. Happily, more often than not the solution will be any one of infinite other numbers. You just have to have people to are problem solvers. Each animal has it's own solution, but if the answer to everything is death, we fail miserably.