No Kill's campaign of lies, hate and deception

As Nathan Winograd prepares to kick off his "No Kill is Love" tour later this summer its time for then rescue advocacy community to open its eyes to many of Nathan's "partners" who are deeply involved in a campaign aimed at attacking anyone who dares question the authenticity of a movement rift with fraud and animal suffering.

This blog has become to focal point for an attack lead by No Kill Nation's leader Debi Day that people who seriously love animals must open their eyes too.  Included in this organized attack are the creation of several fake twitter accounts which were used last summer to threaten, slander and defame this writer into silence by targeting the senior hounds living in my Georgia "no kill sanctuary" to force this silence.

One of those fake twitter accounts was a person who went by the name "The Idiot Whisperer". 
It is my assumption based on other claims from No Kill Nation's leader that she was willing to "pay for information" on her "haters" that person is what is referred to in cyberspace as a cyber thug that carries out an attack leaving the person who organized the attack with "clean hands". 

This picture was hijacked off my Facebook page.  This tweet was posted in the late hours of June 13th 2013.  There is nothing humorous about making jokes about dogs who have been rescued from kill shelters.  Obviously this person is an idiot or he would have thought far enough ahead to be able to explain how these "corpses" he is accusing me of killing came "back alive".  What does this have to do with "no kill"?

This is a second picture of alleged "corpses" caused by hoarding posted about an hour later on twitter as well.  As you will see this attack crosses way over a line of common decency and boundaries that are acceptable in any advocacy movement.  This is slander, this is pure hate and its pure character assassination - with everything leading to the board room of an organization known as No Kill Nation.

Some of the comments including in the "conversation" are equally disgusting.  These tweets were set up with this tweet coming from Debi Day's twitter account @seeside with this tweet.

I'm not sure what No Kill Nation's leader finds disgusting in a picture that includes an eighteen year old senior Belle who was rescued eight years ago from a local kill shelter, a ten year old beagle dumped in our driveway or our American bull dog but most animal lovers would never make such comments about someone else's dogs.  What is telling is the copy list @seeside used to "share" this tweet. 

This is part of No Kill Nation's "team" assigned to post highly insulting and defamatory statements directed at me.  How this type of organized attack fits into the "No Kill Equation" is anyone's guess.
No Kill Nation's attack team includes Marilyn Reese @plantfhreak , Teri Fulks (Dyer) @TKFulks , Camille Loge (@Clo1117 and a new addition who goes by the name of Idiot Whisperer.
So what positive information do these cyber thugs have to offer that might lead a community towards "no kill"?  You be the judge.

Since he started out posting pictures of dogs he claimed were dead this was a natural follow up tweet.  No Kill Nation has stepped over a line now accusing me of killing fifteen of the old hounds (many of whom were personal dogs) living in our sanctuary.  The truth tells a far different story with ALL of these passing's being old age issues.

So, what expertise does the Idiot Whisperer bring to the no kill discussion that would enable him to make these less than intelligent claims?  Again in his own words.

Admittedly, like No Kill Nation, this guy is clueless on rescue but he is an expert on the politics.  Is he a paid cyber thug?  It certainly has the appearance of being a paid contract cyber hit.

What direction will this attack take - armed only with ignorance the Idiot Whisperer starts down a path of filing false neglect and abuse allegations with any agency that would listen.

Note a new addition to the team - none other than Maria Venuto aka Lucy Van Pelt.  Complaints were fled with GA Dept of Agriculture and our local shelter Gwinnett Animal Control.

No Kill Nation's leader Debi Day brought in the Idiot Whisperer for a reason - this is where her efforts to have my hounds seized and the no kill sanctuary that had saved hundreds of hounds over the last dozen years CLOSED DOWN.  Problem is - I am NOT a rescue group therefore I am not required to be licensed by the Department of Agriculture.

On June 22nd 2013 No Kill Nation's leader is clearly aware and responsible for false allegations being filed with the Georgia department of Agriculture hoping to close down our senior sanctuary for hounds and send those dogs to the nearest kill shelter.

I run a privately funded sanctuary for senior hounds that are all "owned" personally.  I am only required to comply with Gwinnett County animal ordinances with which I have a flawless record on care and compliance issues.  If No Kill Nation's leader Debi Day had a clue what the laws were she would have realized her ignorance.  The real unanswered question is WHERE in No Kill Nation's mission statement does it call for the leadership to bring in outside thugs to distort and lie about conditions in a sanctuary resulting in placing many of those dogs in grave danger.

Who does that anyway?  So what were the allegations being levied by a person who admittedly knows nothing about rescue?  It should disgust you to know.



It is disgusting to think that No Kill Nation would even stoop so low to enter into such an ignorant discussion about senior dogs who have closed out there lives at our sanctuary, especially in lieu of all the seniors that No Kill Nation allows to die in south Florida shelters all the time. 

No Kill Nation admittedly DOESN'T do rescue - I do.  Even more insulting is the fact that several of those fifteen dogs misrepresented by this tweet were personal dogs who had died of OLD AGE issues. 

For an advocacy group to make such ignorant comments with participation and direction coming from its totally clueless President speaks VOLUMES as to why Debi Day is not qualified to lead an A.A. meeting let alone a fraudulent advocacy group with a mission statement beholden to irresponsible breeders.

Yet, the comments get worse - this gets personal and it gets disgusting.

As of last June while No Kill Nation could not clearly show any programs that might save lives or help communities reform their shelters what they did have in place was a number of Debi Day's followers who were part of a team assigned to stalk every word I posted on Facebook. 

In this mischaracterization a foster beagle named Juju developed a prolapsed rectum which required surgery to repair.  I leave the rest to your imagination.  Ask yourself where THOSE comments fit into any discussion on "no kill"?  You will also see how ALL of these comments were directed towards my twitter account. 

Yet, when I answered some of these nonsensical tweets with return responses Debi Day's attorney filed a motion claiming I was in violation of a "no contact" order the court granted without allowing me to participate in that hearing.  That is NOT due process - its a kangaroo court.

I won't even respond to this ignorance.  Hundreds of beagles and bassets who have used our sanctuary as a safe haven would think differently.  Obviously No Kill Nation and the "no kill" movement it claims to represent places very little value in rescuing seniors in even participating in this type of ignorant and ill informed discussion.

Death camps are "sanctuaries like Spindletop Refuge or Caboodle Ranch - where dogs and cats clearly died from abusive conditions.  Strange that No Kill Nation's leader Debi Day would defend both of those sanctuaries while trying to close down a sanctuary with a flawless history of providing much needed services for special needs senior hounds.

Not satisfied with an ignorant attack directed at our hounds the discussion gets way too personal.

Expecting a sixty year old man suffering from severe crohn's disease that has left him walking with crutches at the time to replace an old carpet shows a lack of understanding and compassion for the disabled.  We'll ignore the fact that Debi Day has NEVER complained about the fact that many of the Spindletop Refuge pit bulls she defends lived in small cages for months eating and sleeping in their own waste and drinking their own urine to survive.  Many didn't survive. 

Where is the outrage over THOSE conditions?  In future blogs we will discuss No Kill nation's investment in a boarding kennel called the Dog House in Pompano with a history of squalor like conditions where Debi can dump dogs "saved" from local kill shelters. 

Now that's mature. 



Making jokes about a person's health issues is extremely classless and in pour taste.  Wishing someone to die is beyond classless.  As you will see Debi Day "retweeted" that info therefore taking ownership as well.

A conversation with an eight year old - how classic.

Yet, another "eight year old" thanks the Idiot for his support?  Note how even though she clearly sets all this up and participates through twitter comments of her own Debi still tries to play the victim.  Debi thinks every one is as stupid as she is and can't see though her childish games.

No Kill Nation's leader Debi Day didn't simply use one cyber thug to harass, slander and attack both me personally and the no kill sanctuary that I manage but as evidence will show used several "team players" to commit these egregious acts.  All of the players in this facade worked from the same play book - repeating the same lies and dishonest dialect as part of a larger scheme committing "character assassination".

Those who participated in this attack which started as far back as the fall of 2012 include the infamous Maria Venuto (who masquerades as the comic book creature "Lucy Van Pelt"), Camille Loge (who runs a Facebook rescue page called Camille's Rescue), Marilyn Reese (a Winograd groupie who lives in California), Teri Dyer (founder of a Facebook group called No Kill Brevard and No Kill Nation's board member Kathy Santomero.

Also involved in an  ongoing attack are several members of an ANONYMOUS hacker group which NKN's President routinely incited using false allegations as well.  All of this can be proven, has been shared with the U.S. Attorney's office in Atlanta and now will be shared on this blog.

Is this what the No Kill MOVEMENT has morphed into?   It should be absolutely disgusting to ANY dog lover that a group whose mission statement is to save lives instead focuses its assets gained through YOUR donations and its efforts attacking anyone who dares question or oppose that vision.

Is THIS really the intelligent conversation needed to reform our nation's sheltering system or would you call this type of behavior "childish behavior unbecoming of anyone claiming a leadership role in a movement that she is clearly not qualified to handle and in fact has no prior experience on her resume to suggest any previous success in those advocacy efforts.

No Kill Nation's Debi Day is a bored socialite with enough money that she THINKS she can BUY this fame, power and glory - it simply does NOT work that way in real life.

How does Debi Day's involvement work towards her goal of destroying my reputation and legacy in the rescue community?  What Debi does is employ cyber thugs to post false information which she simply "re tweets" to her 1,000 or so followers on twitter as if this information SHE PLANTS is indeed fact.  Amongst the slanderous rumors she has participated in spreading are that I am a hoarder, convicted felon, drug dealer, violent towards woman, kill my dogs through neglect and that "I" am the mentally insane stalker in this case.

The fact is my involvement in this case has ALWAYS been limited to seeking the TRUTH on what No Kill Nation and Debi Day did with the over $100,000 they collected in the fall of 2011 for No Kill Nation's Everglades Project - nothing more - nothing less.

Despite claims to the contrary the court case itself NEVER heard any witnesses, never held any hearings were evidence of slander was introduced nor were there any rulings on facts related to the alleged defamatory issues.  I simply defaulted on a court case rather than spend thousands of dollars in legal fees that would be better spent maintaining our sanctuary. 

In other words, I chose to spend my resources and time SAVING senior hounds while No Kill Nation obviously invests most of its efforts and money on lawsuits trying to close down rescues like mine and send the dogs BACK to local kill shelters.  How is that part of any NO KILL EQUATION?

 

 I started this blog with three pictures that were hijacked off my Facebook page to create a drama situation that did not exist.  Here is THAT picture again.  Where does this type of infantile behavior fit into a no kill movement that has failed miserably?  This is totally OVER the line of common decency and honest behavior we expect from those claiming a leadership role in any advocacy effort.  You don't see animal protection groups like HSUS, the ASPCA, Best Friends or PeTa employ these dishonest tactics so how is "no kill" any better?

The senior hounds in this picture ALL survived a stay at a kill shelter.  Debi Day was NOT there to rescue them when they faced death then and her behavior now that threatens their safety is repulsive.  All of these dogs are innocent creatures who have names, are happy on their new home and in fact love me as their caretaker.  It should disgust ANY animal lover to see them involved in No Kill Nation's little scheme.

This comment is nothing more than a threat that Debi shares with complete strangers in the hopes someone will act on it.  It's offensive - its criminal this type of behavior has NO PLACE in any social movement PERIOD.  Targeting a senior citizen with a disability with false attacks like this is the real act of cowardice - Debi should be ashamed - SHE IS the freak show.

Haven't WE had enough of a movement so childish that the only real suffering from this type of behavior is ultimately the shelter dogs and cats who continue to die because "No Kill" message is so far off track.  No Kill isn't about saving lives - its about greed, power and people more concerned about their own misplaced egos - the animals are irrelevant.  That is sad.

"Good night my friend?"  I rest my case.  Debi can stand by her beliefs that honesty is NOT important nor are the lives of dogs she is willing to kill by sending them back to a shelter. 

In the coming weeks I will share the rest of the story which sadly doesn't get any better.  Last Monday No Kill nation's leader organized another attack on our sanctuary which included having four people call in false reports of abuse and neglect to the Gwinnett Animal Control in the hopes that all twenty nine of the dogs who reside here would be impounded.  That story will disgust you even more.



Just a Battle of Words

This No Kill Nation vs Drats case evolved over my demands that No Kill Nation disclose how the $100,000 donated to the Everglades Project in the fall of 2011 was actually being spent.

Rather than disclose that accounting NKN's leader Day instead hired a law firm Tripp Scott to file a civil law suit for the comments listed on these two pages.

Compare the context of my statements, many of which were posted on my personal Face book page, with the comments leveled against me personally. Ironically it would be one year, or in mid November of 2012 that NKN finally released their version of Everglades accounting.

Line items for an administrative fee of $5,646 on donations earmarked for rescue with only $872 paid out to "My Animals Rock" which is rescue group that had been helping Mirta for years. 

Regardless off the numbers on payments to various vet offices the cost per animal rescued would have been substantially less had this rescue operation partnered with Miami Dade Animal Services. 

Sadly, because No Kill Nation insisted on controlling the rescue operation based on available resources.  Many dogs got left behind that could have had a safe place to sleep at the county shelter.

Note: Amy Roman Restucci took over the Abandoned Dogs of the Everglades in February of 2012.  She is now paying herself a $50,000 salary and driving a new BMW - all thanks to donor dollars.  No Kill nation paid ex show breeder Karolyn Rico a $41,000 salary or more than Ingrid Newkirk for who knows what job responsibility she had.  Charity fraud?  You be the judge.


This one area was were No Kill Nation and I disagree on.  With the hatred that No Kill Nation and their leaders had towards shelters and the animal protection community this much needed help was simply ignored.

The accounting was only released in November of 2012 one week after a "Permanent Injunction" was issued ordered me to take down numerous Drats Blogs and just about any reference I may have made that mentions No Kill Nation on Facebook as well.

The arrogance of deceit kept more animals from being saved.  More numbers that are just numbers considering how long it took No Kill Nation's two accountants to put this together. 

Balanced Paws has a business relationship with NKN's leader Debi Day.  The payout of $3,000 was for boarding and training of a dog rescued from the Everglades named Pierre.  There has been no clear explanation as to what happened to Pierre after or if he left the control of Balanced Paws.

Fourteen months in boarding is an awful long time for any dog but to take a dog found living in the wild and make no attempt to find a suitable foster is simply irresponsible.

Still, while No Kill Nation admits they are not a rescue group they have repeatedly attacked my work here running a no kill sanctuary for senior hounds that I started in late 2002.  I have never fostered a dog in boarding.

While NKN's Amy Restucci was much too busy to foster Pierre herself, or simply clueless on fostering, she did have time to take her whole "100+ Abandoned Dogs" team to Key West for some rest and relaxation. 

 

 



 I never realized how emotionally stressful rescue is in south Florida.  Most rescuers I know spend their evenings cleaning cages, playing with their fosters and trying to figure out how your going to pay for all those fosters living by your feet.  Not Amy, relieved of the boring responsibility of teaching fosters to trust again she unwinds with a night out with the girls at her favorite pub.

Yet, Amy has on numerous occasions called me irresponsible and a hoarder.  I guess you can't be a hoarder as long as you dump your rescues in boarding and get someone else to pick up the tab.

Once I first starting nosing around on issues related to No Kill Nations involvement in the Everglades Project including the relationships with NKN employees Kathy Santomero, Amy Restucci, Maggie Rodriquez and Camille Loge the rhetoric directed towards me became increasingly hostile.

Who is Kathy Santomero?  Kathy was one of the major fundraisers for the Everglades Project.  She did such a wonderful job No Kill Nation promoted her to the board of directors.  Kathy is also a woman of many words.

 



In addition to her skills in fundraising Kathy is well versed in espionage.  One would think a group devoted to ending shelter killing in our nations shelters would have board members focused on bringing about that change.

The sad thing is I am not that difficult to spy on.  My Face book page is open to the public, all my blogs are not only open but allow un moderated comments - something that is unheard of in the no kill movement.

If you can't defend your vision by communicating why your vision is better than anything else then you don't have a vision.

While Kathy talks a good story about being compassionate with those who suffer from chronic illness her actions tell an entirely different story.  Was it compassionate to sign an affidavit swearing under oath that 150 plus of the Drats blogs were "lies and defamatory" towards NKN when many of the topics discussed in those blogs covered item like puppy mills, Nathan Winograd (who is NOT NKN), CAPA laws, Rick Berman and the like.  Either Kathy has extremely poor reading comprehension skills or she deliberately filed a false document with the court.

Why would she do that?  In her own words - it's about the music.

Yes, Kathy IGNORANT PEOPLE can be so cruel.

Despite all this hateful rhetoric I complied with the court order that resulted from Santomero's false affidavit used in court to secure a permanent injunction.  Over 150 blogs were deleted, including dozens of educational blogs written months before the Everglades even became an NKN project.

All my older comments on Facebook were blocked by simply changing settings preventing anyone from accessing old posts,  A court order to Google deleted over 150 of my blogs including the blogs on puppy mills, Nathan Winograd, Rick Berman, CAPA, Mike Fry and even more incredibly blogs written about my hounds.

In fact, the order was so extensive that two blogs I wrote for first amendment clarification called "Amused to Death" and "My Back Pages" containing nothing more than lyrics to songs that had been around for decades.

Yet, NKN's board member K Santomero swore under oath that all of these blogs were "lies and defamatory" towards NKN.

That was part of my issue with the permanent injunction. What landed me in hot water was when NKN's attorney demanded that all "future writing" on the NKN be included as well.

Clearly, No Kill Nation's leader nor her friends were going to adjust the tone of words they choose to post.  Words of hate became the battle call of a war of words that entangled anyone who dared voice an opposing viewpoint on No Kill Nation's vision or agenda.

Despite demands from Debi Day's attorney that I not be allowed to comment at all on anything related to Debi or her organization those same guidelines obviously didn't apply to her. 

People were attacked with vile comments by both Debi and her friend Maria Venuto (who posts by the alias Lucy Von Pelt) for simply being friends.  I have only known Hilda Mueller for a very short two years.  Hilda is one of the kindest, compassionate person I have had the honor to meet.  The hateful, vile attacks that were directed at Hilda and her family became very personal to me.

I have never had the honor to meet Mary Lundberg but I do know in watching her work she is a friend to shelter animals.

What kind of leader of a national animal advocacy group threatens people and what kind of leader allows her friends to post the most vile comments about a person imaginable?  Mary works tirelessly taking pictures of shelter dogs at MDAS hoping to find that one person who might save a life.  Debi Day and her NKN friends are much too consumed with their war of hate to be bothered.

This is school yard behavior - Debi Day can not be trusted to act like an adult.  This "no kill" movement - if there is a movement - will never survive as long as it is run by children who only have hatred in their hearts.



 

Maybe someone can explain to me where this dialog fits in with implementing Nathan Winograd's "No Kill Equation"?  As an advocate for over a decade I have never seen such vile language.  For a leader of an advocacy group to not only include themselves in this discussion but to host these friends on her Facebook page should be disgusting to everyone who got into advocacy or rescue not to play school yard bully but to save lives of the four legged companions most of us love so dearly.

The truth is none of the vile comments above can be banned through the courts.  That would clearly be a violation of the first amendment.  The Supreme Court has ruled that "even defamatory speech" is protected under the first amendment.

Now as a practical application it would be ill advised to write things that can be proven defamatory like the comments I have just shared.  Those defamatory comments then could be subject to a lawsuit clarifying whether or not they were defamatory or not.
Debi Day has repeatedly claimed that the statements I've written on Facebook or this Drats blog were "ruled" defamatory after the court heard testimony was heard.  That is a blatant lie.  The court NEVER held evidence hearings on any of the statements listed in the original complaint No Kill Nation filed.  

The only hearings held were pretrial motion hearings.  I defaulted out of a court battle that would have cost me six figures in legal fees to defend.  Instead of wasting money on attorney's I chose to use my resources to pay for things like surgery and vet bills for the hounds.

In this country the super wealthy should never be able to "PURCHASE" public opinion.  The concept of the rich and affluent not only silencing my voice but, as Maria puts it "putting me in prison", is something that happens in third world countries but not in the United States of America.

I know many have told me to walk away but walking away from defending the right to free speech would be an insult to all of our brave soldiers who paid the ultimate price for my freedom and yours too - that is simply something I will not do.

The disgruntled ever shrinking brain of no kill

It seems that the no kill nuts keep referring to just about everything written on this blog as being "lies and defamation" directed towards the "fearless" No Kill Nation's leader Debi Day.

Granted, after a long court battle that started off seeking transparency on money collected by No Kill Nation that morphed into a default judgment and what appeared to be some resolution on the financials of the Everglades Project.  No Kill Nation finally released an accounting on the Everglades Project close to a year later with most people who have followed the case thinking that the drama and nonsense and nonsense would end.

The court ordered "permanent injunction" does prohibit writing any future articles or blogs that referred to No Kill Nation and/or its agents as "scammers" or to insinuate in any mannerism that No Kill Nation was involved in charity fraud. 

While others are free analyze the financial connections surrounding No Kill Nation Drats is not nor will.

That being said there are other issues that demonstrate No Kill Nation's leadership failures that Drats can wrote about.  Those areas include the incompetent leadership coming from a small but vocal group that spends far more time attacking the animal protection community than focusing on building a grass roots movement that reforms our nations shelters.

One would think taking on the responsibility of assisting other shelter reform advocates with reforming their shelter would require a leadership team experienced in bringing about change and a group of skilled advocates capable of focusing in the task at hand - educating others on their own success in shelter reform.

But that hasn't been the case.  Instead No Kill Nation's leader Debi Day has become obsessed with seeking personal retribution directed at this writer.  That retribution includes seeking to have him jailed for refusing to sign an agreement not to comment on No Kill Nation at all.

As in all my writing I take the first amendment very seriously.  As we all reflect on the sacrifices our soldiers have made throughout generations it would be simply callous not to acknowledge that brave men and woman fought and died so that ALL Americans can live in a democracy where different opinions on political issues is a way of life. 

Free speech is part of the first amendment because our forefathers who wrote the constitution that it was that important.

We don't live in a society where the super wealthy can buy the silence of those who are not wealthy enough to defend frivolous law suits in a court system which seems to ignore the fact that these rights are part of our heritage.  In the coming weeks Drats will explore some of the comments posted by No Kill Nation's leader and her minion followers who seem confused over the concept of what libel is or isn't.

These same confused minions keep insisting on proof on the issue this blog addresses so what better proof to offer but words right out of the children of the no kill korn's mouths themselves?



So, who are some of the ardent no kill followers working diligently in lowering our shelter kill numbers?  What are some of the intelligent discussions that the No Kill leader involves herself and her followers in?  Are they discussing problems with implementing the No Kill Equation when they gather behind Debi's blocked Face Book page? 

The above comment seems to have a whole lot of anger and misguided efforts directed at a writer that No Kill Nation's leader claims "no one listens too anyway".  Of course, since followers - "follow" it is not surprising that Allison (who one would think is looking for solutions to her home town high kill shelter in Fulton County Georgia) would be mesmerized by the tenacity of her fearless no kill leader hell bent of vengeance instead of saving lives. 

Most of us who have spent any time at all reading on the issues have by now been subjected to the vile mouth of a comic strip character better known in real life as Maria Venuto.  Lucy has become not only the mouth piece for no kill but a repulsive follower who has tarnished and painted this movement to being more about hatred than saving lives.

It is easy to see with her incredibly shrinking brain that has been pickled from years of alcohol abuse where Debi be confused by the stories on our now dog barking case in Gwinnett.

One thing that I have learned about Debi is she has no patience and becomes frustrated when her money can't buy her the salvation and the adoration she is seeking.  With her efforts to have me jailed taking far too long Debi decided to launch into personal attacks to show that the comments being shared on Drats can't be trusted.

While Debi would like people to think I am a hoarder who is irresponsible to not only my hounds but the community as well the article she references tells an entirely different story.

When faced with a bogus dog barking charge filed by a real estate agent only seeking to make a fast $50,000 flipping the house next door that included a demand that all of the hounds be surrendered at our then high kill shelter I refused.  Instead I waged a long hotly contested battle with the county that resulted in being sentenced to two years probation but being allowed to keep all the hounds. 

Most advocates including the no kill nuts who routinely malign me would have sought cover or even worse caved to a threat of facing twelve years in jail and paying $24,000 in fines for refusing to surrender the hounds I love.  I am NOT like most no kill advocates - instead, I drew that line in the sand and fought for not only my hounds but others who had been intimidated into surrendering their pets as well.

Further, as part of my probation stipulations I was prohibited from writing about the county law office, animal control or the "animal rights" attorney who prosecuted our case. 

I ignored those stipulations and instead launched into a campaign to rewrite our "draconian" dog barking law making sure that no other pet owner would ever be threatened with losing their dog or facing a jail term simply because they were accused of having a barking dog.

In the process of stepping on toes in the county law office and in ultimately succeeding in rewriting our dog barking law I was dragged into court seven times as the county sought to revoke my probation.  I was successful in all but the last court hearing where the judge sentenced me to thirty days in jail for again refusing to consider surrendering one of the hounds.

People inclined to draw their own conclusion on the plus twenty hounds who have shared my home for over twelve years now could simply visit our Facebook page where over 1,500 hundred photos have been shared.  Not many hoarders would go that route but I share the hounds to serve as an example of what wonderful companions shelter dogs can be.

While I prefer sharing stories and pictures of the hounds other find it more important to share stories about their drinking.  Debi Day claims to be a leader yet at age fifty three she still hasn't outgrown the desire to hang out in bars and try and find happiness in the bottom of a martini glass. 

I lead a much simpler, quiet life surrounded by the hounds I love.  Holding up a bar stool and telling complete strangers how famous you are as the leader of a No Kill Nation is simply a lame attempt at validating an otherwise useless existence. 

Debi won't find the solutions to solving the problems of pet overpopulation in Broward County by being a bar fly.  If it makes her feel manly then so be it but she might want to simply grow up and face her demons in a much more productive way then drinking herself into a stupor every night.

There is nothing funny about orchestrating personal attacks on people or issues that Debi is completely ignorant about.  Her actions show an immaturity that prevents her from leading anything let alone a serious movement reforming our nation's animal shelters.

Advocacy isn't child's play.  That alone is the reason why neither Debi nor her "No Kill Nation will ever accomplish anything but be an embarrassment to an advocacy community that deserves the mature knowledgeable leadership needed to forge ahead saving the lives our nation's homeless pets. 

Love Drats

Is No Kill’s Pro Breeder Position “Pro Kill”

Underhook Kennels 

We've all heard the ad nausea talk coming from the no kill leaders blaming everyone but the breeders for shelter killing.  In my experience lowering intake is a much more prudent and less costly way for communities to end the killing but I have been told my thinking is “old school” or more commonly referred to as PRO KILL.

In an interesting exchange on No Kill Nation’s Facebook page there was this exchange:  (I have left the misspellings and grammar as is – it’s the message I’m sharing)

Kyle x Xxxxxxx “I believe we should have a spay or neuter law. If you are not an approved breeder. You have to fix all your pets. And if you can not afford it they gov will do it for you. No more un wanted babies.”

UnderHook Kennel Kyle, I understand whole heartedly where your coming from, but I dont want to be made to pay for doggy abortions . Its enough that my tax dollors will have to pay for human abortions now taking more for Fido does not help us in the short or long wrong. In my humble opinion If one cant afford a pet an all its expenses one should not own animals, same goes for humans having children. Now in regards to the spay and neuter law and beeing a approved breeder, I believe people have to make that decision for their animals and not the Gov. an beeing a breeder is no easy task. Most people wont have the money , Knowledge or patience to stay the course and become reputable. That in itself will naturally end their cycle. Now if Gov. steps in and says you need licenses degrees, internship .. people wont breed and the few that do wont have enough of a gene pool to breed healthy dogs and thats just the begining of the argument on becoming a licensed breeder.

No Kill Nation Hundreds of communities have mandatory spay/neuter laws. They do not work. They have never created a single No Kill community. In fact, many times they lead to increased impoundments and increased killing. We advocate for what works. Nobody should support a law that does not work and leads to more killing.

So, given an opportunity to educate it’s followers No Kill Nation’s leadership not only fails dismally in correcting this breeders assertion that breeding doesn’t add to pet overpopulation issues but offers misleading or down right inaccurate information on spay neuter laws.  There are NOT hundreds of communities that have enacted a mandatory spay neuter law.

The classic example of communities that have passed “mandatory” spay neuter laws are typically Los Angeles, that failed in its goal when the politicians pulled the funding on targeted spay neuter access.  Without access to affordable spay neuter many pet owners who would have complied with the law and  spay neutered their pets simply couldn’t.

Las Vegas is cited as seeing an increase in shelter intake and kill numbers when it passed a spay neuter law in 2007.  Yet, while MSN was blamed for the increase in pets being surrendered and less pets being adopted the critics of MSN completely ignore the fact that Las Vegas also went through a major housing slump where many of its citizens simply lost their jobs and homes.

Memphis has been cited as a failure as well even though the Memphis law only requires pet owners who have a dog picked up for violating a nuisance law to have that pet altered prior to reclaim.  A similar law is also on the books in Austin Texas.

So, who is this expert on the government’s role in passing responsible spay neuter laws and laws that address unlicensed breeders?  Who is the expert who also spews the same tired rhetoric coming from the No Kill leadership blaming the animal protection community for shelter killing?  Underhook Kennels is a pit bull breeder that Drats wrote about earlier.  Of course that blog was deleted as being defamatory towards No Kill Nation as well.

Shelters across the country kill close to one million pit bulls every year.  Yet, the leadership at No Kill Nation thinks a breeder is justified in breeding more?

Walk into any public shelter and you will find pit bulls under the age of two that have been dumped when families who bought them as puppies realize how unpredictable their temperament really is.  This is the result of irresponsible breeders who train a pit for “sport”.

While Underhook Kennels has pulled down their web site a google search pulls up some disturbing information about their breeding habits.

Puppies up for Adoption.
Henzo an I after his first weight pull venue. Guys Henzo is looking for a new home (Free). He is a 11 month old working pup thats energetic and friendly. He has verbal, leash and weight pull training. To give Henzo a forever home please message me here or call me at 323-7073153. Experienced homes are a plus, thank you

Giving away for free a nearly one year old energetic pit bull is simply irresponsible.

Watch this video of pit bulls raised by Underhook Kennels.- note the phone number for the now defunct Underhook Kennels is the same for a breeder website called classicpitbulls.com

I am not suggesting that Underhook Kennels is doing anything illegal but am suggesting all the warning signs are there.  Yet, No Kill Nation uses his opinions on spay/neuter and his position spewing nonsense about HSUS as if it is credible.  It simply isn’t but then again haven’t we heard that song and dance about inept leadership of a no kill movement hell bent on destroying the animal protection community?

Drats is suggesting that the nuts of no kill exercise poor judgment thus are guilty of killing the hundreds of thousands of pit bulls that wouldn’t die in our shelters if WE simply insisted on laws that prevent irresponsible breeders from bringing them into this world in the first place.  That is PRO KILL.

Notes – To learn more about the pit bull breeding community visit sites like

http://www.thepitbullbible.com/forum/

Manatee County - No Kill Nation Shell Game

No Kill Nation Shell Game

As much as Manatee Animal Control should be proud of for its diligence in saving lives no kill is nothing more than a shell game that shifts the killing and the burden of funding animal control from one communiy or in this case one state to another.

First off, Manatee has yet to reach its goal of being no kill. I believe the numbers from last year was around an 80 percent save rate if I am to believe the numbers released. A much bigger problem is a lack of credibility when attempts to glamorize “no kill” displays a much darker side where honest reporting gets tossed into the wind and no kill nuts organize efforts to fluff and distort the numbers on animals actually killed using the “no kill equation”.

For every dog Shane saves today a dog will die in Murray County Ga. That is realty. It is appalling that an irresponsible Georgia rescuer would lay the guilt and responsibility for saving URGENT dogs in Murray on the responsible rescue community which is already over loaded, under funded and simply does not need anymore dogs in the Atlanta or entire state of Georgia.

We have a PET OVERPOPULATION crisis in Georgia as does the entire state of Florida. Yet, for a RESPONSIBLE rescuer like myself to state the obvious to followers of St. Wino’s Church of the Blatantly Insane I can assure you we will be viewed as PRO KILL outcasts and burned at the stake with all his loyal followers chanting “PETA KILLS – PETAS KILLS”.

Peta has nothing to do with the pathetic state our public shelters are in. The real problem is the shell game perpetrated by irresponsible and blatantly dishonest leadership in the “no kill” community that spins tales of success and failure to further an equally dishonest breeder enabling agenda.

The other glowing problem that sweeps up the good people in communities like Manatee is NO ONE talks about the cost of implementing these dishonest solutions to solving our long-term pet overpopulation issues. Solutions like promoting responsible pet ownership through education, spay neuter and breeder licensing to lower not only the number of pets being rammed through our publicly funded shelters but the suffering and costs associated with an increased number of hoarding cases as well.

As disgusting as the first comment was the reality is if your politicians aren’t keeping you informed on the costs of no kill then you need to be asking those questions. Is your animal control budget going up, down or remaining revenue neutral? If you are committing more resources for saving animals while cutting programs for programs for children, the homeless or unemployed or your elderly population than you have some moral issues that are simply not acceptable.

There are real solutions that get swept under the rug while playing this no kill shell game. Those solutions include promoting targeted low cost spay neuter programs with the funding used to increase as adoptions. Are you investing in the next generation of pet owners through education programs in your school systems that promote responsible pet ownership as a community obligation.

Finally, are you addressing the root cause of pet overpopulation by passing laws that reign in irresponsible breeding with a county breeder licensing laws eliminating road side sales of puppies, the sale of puppies at the many flea markets in the area and the huge contingent of backyard breeders who don’t even pay sales tax of puppies they sell?

If you not doing these things the taxpayers are simply pawns in a much more egregious agenda that enables breeders to do what they do best – create a world of abuse and suffering that is merely mask under the distorted vision that has come to be called no kill.

To learn more about true shelter reform google “Drats No Kill” or visit “Exposing the truth on No Kill Nation” on Face Book.

Love Drats

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/22081811/2013/04/25/manatee-shelter-pushes-to-get-every-animal-adopted

No Kill Nation Seeks Jail Closing Hounds Sanctuary

News Flash - Just received notice for a "Supplemental Hearing scheduled for tomorrow in Judge Eileen O'Connor's Broward County Court House seeking an unspecified jail sentence for failing to appear at a January 29th 2013 hearing.  Any type of ruling would place a number of the sanctuary hounds in grave danger.

Further my senior basset Cleo is scheduled for serious life threatening surgery on Monday and senior hospice care beagle Oscar is scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning to remove a mass as well.  It is not only repulsive that a group claiming to advocate for shelter animals would be so reckless but is disgraceful to consider I currently house 28 special needs hounds who for the most part ARE shelter survivors even the no kill nuts weren't willing or able to rescue.

So NOW DEBI wants to send these dogs WHERE?  The shelter where WE KILL OLD DOGS?  To her boarding kennel the Dog House in Pompano Beach?  Or does she EVEN care?

Why would ANYONE who claims to understand canine behavior even discuss removing dogs from a home where they have most cases for several years to use as bait in extorting a favorable agreement in a civil suit?  Where does THAT fit in with your No Kill Equation.

I would WARN the leader of No Kill Nation that if even ONE of the hounds suffers from her actions the consequences would be overwhelming in retribution.

There are TWENTY EIGHT live hounds who are depending on me to provide for their needs.  I take that responsibility VERY seriously.  It would NOT be a prudent or wise move to test that resolve.  People inclined to make a statement in support are asked to consider donating to either Oscar or Cleo's immediate life saving needs rather than all this senseless drama.

Tompkins SPCA - No Kill - No More

"If we hope to live not just from moment to moment, but in true consciousness of our existence, our greatest need and most difficult achievement is to find meaning in our lives." Bruno Bettelheim

The implications of this line of reasoning is clear; only when you get people talking about all the issues in non confrontational discussions will they come to believe in not only your vision but more importantly respect your role as a leader ultimately defining the purpose, path and goal of the movement.

 

 

In an article in the Syracuse Post Standard it is reported that Ithaca New York fell short of maintaining it's "No Kill" status for dogs. Tompkins County Animal Control, a division of the local SPCA has been awarded the county animal control contract for years and has been the focal point for Nathan Winograd's No Kill Advocacy Center as the premier and first "open admission" shelter to attain a 90 percent live save rate using the No Kill Equation.

According to the article, Ithaca, which includes Tompkins County (population 101,564) picked up 534 dogs from Ithaca and six nearby towns. Of those, 75 or 14 percent were killed. These numbers are close to the numbers reported in Albany (population 97,856) where animal control picked up 323 dogs in 2012 and delivered them to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society where 57 or 18 percent were killed.

Larger cities in upstate New York reported higher kill numbers. In comparison, Buffalo (population 261,310) had Animal Control intake numbers of 1,850 dogs picked up in 2011 of which 676 or 18 percent were killed. Rochester (population 210,310) animal control reported 3,093 dogs in 2012 went though the city animal shelter of which 1,544 or 59% were killed and Syracuse (population 145,710) delivered 910 dogs to a private contractor of which 573 or 63 percent were killed.

Not only has Tompkins slipped out of the prestigious "no kill" club but has also reported that due to constant overcrowding at its shelter intake was limited on owner surrenders by appointment only and only if the shelter has space available. In other words, Tompkins SPCA was and is a "limited admission" kill since 2011.

Dog lovers and advocates locally point the blame on the urban puppy mills and animal cruelty that are driving pet abandonment issues. At a hastily called meeting seeking solutions to that regions pet overpopulation issues close to forty residents came to a Common Council committee meeting looking for alternatives.

Rather than focusing solely on a "No Kill Equation" as a solution local animal advocate Joan Antczak, a member of the Animal Alliance of Greater Syracuse, complained that "our animal welfare system is broken". 

Much of the blame for local shelter problems focused on dog fighting, unethical and unlicensed backyard breeding and the many puppy mills that dot the landscape.

Citizens urged city leaders to ramp up efforts to stifle those activities. Among the suggestions:

-- Increase the police department’s newly created position of animal cruelty investigator to full-time from half-time. Officer Rebecca Thompson, who spends half her week on animal cruelty complaints, said after the meeting she is "completely overwhelmed’’ by the number of cases.

-- Clamp down on backyard breeding, requiring licenses for breeders.

-- Increase penalties for dog fighting and go after participants more aggressively.

-- Support education programs in the humane treatment of animals. Subsidize low-cost spaying and neutering programs.

Upstate New York suffers from the same social evils as many communities that kill our pets.

Roughly two out of every three dogs picked up were pit bulls or pit bull mixes. An even higher percentage of the dogs put to death -- three out of every four -- were pit bulls. Many had scars, abscesses or other wounds that indicate they were mistreated or used for fighting. This is NOT rocket science.

You can't simply ignore the warning signs of an irresponsible breeding problem (especially with pit bulls being bred for a dog fighting clientele) and evidence of dog fighting rings to focus on adopting your way out of killing.

According to Nicole Heath, co-founder of Cuse Pit Crew, a nonprofit group aimed at preventing the abuse of pit bulls and promoting humane treatment, backyard breeding and dog fighting are "cottage industries’’ in the Syracuse area. "Few people in the city except those who have seen the shredded bait dogs and scarred survivors of dog fighting . . . understand the depth of cruelty and violence toward both dogs and cats in this city,’’ Heath said.

Many of these same irresponsible breeders will sell puppies as young as 2 weeks old, far too young to be removed from the litter. Puppies too submissive to fight are sometimes used as "bait dogs’’ to encourage aggression in others. Pit bulls who can not be trained as "fighters" turn out to be very poor candidates for family pets and typically end up in our local shelters before reaching two years of age.

This heartbreaking scenario is repeated over and over again in shelters across the country as shelter and rescue advocates struggle to keep up. There is simply not a safe number of homes available for all the pit bulls being bred to supply a market of dog fighters who demonstrate no conscience whatsoever for the dogs who suffer and die simply to fuel a demented desire to watch dogs fight to the death

One would think that with the entire vision struggling along at a snails pace self proclaimed leaders of the "No Kill" movement would welcome solutions from the animal protection community that worked towards putting an end to a dog fighting and puppy mill community as we know it.

Common sense dictates that and denigrating the very animal protection organizations that focus on ending that abuse doesn't bring you to that solution.

As an animal owner, rescue advocate, puppy mill reform advocate and shelter reform advocate focusing solely on implementing a "no kill equation" that focuses on adopting our way out of killing is not sustainable and is simply far too costly for a vast majority of communities to implement.

A far more prudent, and sustainable solution can be found by focusing on lowering the very high intake numbers driving the pet overpopulation issues that lead to shelter killing. Simple math tells us that it is less costly saving less than it ever will be saving more.

Improving the survival numbers of impounded shelter pets is a complicated issue. It simply can not be solved by focusing on the adoption part of the equation while ignoring the obvious intake side of the equation steering the boat. Solutions require a coordinated effort between a shelter, volunteers, local rescue groups and the political factions working together towards a common solution.

Until the no kill movement comes to grips with the "mathematical realities" of shelter killing and more importantly the mathematical realities of funding a shelter reform solution that puts an end to the killing of adoptable pets we will continue to stumble along "adding a few no kill" communities here while losing a few more once "no kill" shelters there that slip back to using a little blue juice and a needle instead.

Without efforts and regulations that weed lout irresponsible owners and breeders it is only a matter of time before "no kill" efforts sink. Communities can't simply look the other way ignoring abusive owners and irresponsible breeders without a soul. Efforts to reduce the suffering are not only politically correct but these solutions become the only humane solution. Its all simple math and common sense. Two areas that seem to continue to allude the leaders of the failed no kill movement. Even no kills prize ship in Tompkins has sunk as you can't simply bale the lake with a teaspoon and expect to still float.

The no kill movement hasn't stalled and failed because the vision of building a no kill nation, it has failed because it lacks intelligent leadership with the skills needed to bring about the partnerships needed for success. The major leadership tasks, and the litany of success includes, amplifying understanding, building awareness, changing the symbols of success, legitimizing new viewpoints, making tactical shifts and testing partial solutions, broadening political support, overcoming opposition, inducing and structuring flexibility towards solutions, launching new trial programs and engaging in systematic waiting while measuring for success, creating the pockets of commitment, crystallizing focus, managing coalitions, and formalizing community commitment.

The role of leadership needed to attain the movement's "difficult achievement", then, is the role of orchestrator and labeler taking can be gotten in the way of progressive action and shaping it - generally after the fact - into lasting commitment to a new strategic goal. true leadership doesn't obsess with placing blame on the past but focuses on directed the oversight needed to maintain and build on the gains in strategy attained.

Poorer leadership, like the leadership that defines the current no kill movement, has strong cultures too, but dysfunctional ones. These leaders are typically focused on internal shelter politics and failures rather than on problem solving. These leaders, like Nathan Winograd and in some respects followers like No Kill Nation's Debi Day, cause more problems with an antagonistic approach at communicating their vision with rigid control that stifles the vision. Leaders that focus only on "the numbers" rather than the solutions set a path towards failure not success.

Even if the numbers goal is reached since practical solutions have been ignored this success becomes costly and is not sustainable. Hence, shelters like Tompkins that experienced the short term high of success are constantly positioned to fail.

Leadership is many things. It is patient, even boring in coalition building. It is altering agendas so that even new priorities get enough public attention. It is visible when things go awry and invisible when things are working well. It is building loyal teams that reach consensus with one voice. It is listening carefully most of the time, frequently speaking with encouragement, and reinforcing words with believable actions. It is being tough when necessary, and the occasional use of power = or the "subtle accumulation of nuances of a hundred things done better under their watch".

What isn't leadership but an abuse of power is too lead through angry rhetoric, to launch personal attacks directed at individuals or animal welfare entities seeking superiority when collaboration in a shared battle for reform. Poor leadership is a symptom of the disease - it will never be a solution for our nation's failed shelters. Tompkins failure to maintain proves that.