Plan B: No Kill Revolution
Screenshot from video below.
“It was like the sun had been behind a cloud for years and it came out.” (shelter worker/manager above who changed how they did things)
I visited the ASPCA website to see what they were discussing and noticed that they had appointed a long term senior employee Matthew E. Bershadker as their new President and CEO. I decided to see what people thought of this appointment and perhaps predictably quickly ended up at Nathan Winograd’s website where Mr Winograd criticises the short-sightedness of the appointment.
You may have heard of Nathan Winograd. He is the no kill advocate. He believes that all animal shelters in the USA can be true no kill and not pay lip service to it. He believes it takes someone who can think out of the box to achieve change away from the systematic, routine of mass euthanasia. He believes that there is enough good will amongst the American people to accommodate and re-home all the unwanted animals. It just takes some imagination and a Plan B to make it work.
Nathan’s criticisim of the new President and CEO of ASPCA is that he is a company man who lacks the vision necessary to lead this large organisation, with $150m yearly funding through donations, to one that is more keenly focused on no kill and less focused on commercial success. Fund raising is essential, of course, but that is a system that can be set up and run like clockwork. The challenge is preserving the lives of shelter animals.
“Empty suits” is the phrase Nathan uses to describe unimaginative company-style managers. He labels Mr. Bershadker an empty suit with a bias towards inertia. He is disappointed with the appointment.
I don’t know enough about the ASPCA to comment. However, you don’t need to know much to recongnise the madness of killing millions of unwanted cats and dogs in America which is a nation of animal lovers by and large. What Nathan Winograd says is that it does not have to happen. There need not be an acceptance of it. Some shelters have changed and others are asking how they did it.
Mr Winograd was involved in the making of the excellent video on this page. It charts the career of the founder of the ASPCA, Henry Bergh, and how the organization has diverged from is founding principles. I’d recommend that it is watched to the end.
Did you find this article useful and interesting? Can it be improved? Please tell me in a comment. I am always keen to improve the site for animal welfare and reader enjoyment.
”I hate to think what will befall this Society when I am gone.” – Henry Bergh