D-Day for Dogs

A big day has arrived to change the tide in rescue work, shelter reforms, and a step for animal rights overall.

Those who realize the importance of Saturday, May 12, 2012 are emailing, posting on Facebook and Craigslist (http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/pet/3010165162.html) because it is vital for there to be a large turn out, for the sake of these animals who count on us to bark loudly for their sake... their lives depend on it quite literally. 

Based out of NY, a national protest will take place to bring awareness & call for much needed improvements to the system that kills millions of shelter animals every year. Two shelters, Carson & high kill Devore, were chosen as California's shelter locations. Devore has been under investigation by ABC and exposed on Warren Eckstein's Pet Radio show for refusing Operation Blankets of Love’s donations of hundreds of care items for the dogs, that have been documented as dying from cold and illness. (http://pictures.sprintpcs.com/share.do?invite=3EU45d21757C07m8akBU&shareName=MMS)

Devore continues to resist improvements, and scoffed that only 8 people turned out to protest last year. They are counting on a similarly meager crowd this year, but those in the trenches of rescue work, who have seen the thousands upon thousands labeled "rescue only" from inaccurate evaluations, and then paying for it with their lives, want to show those who resist making valuable reforms for the dogs whose lives hang in the balance, that there is a formidable group of people standing between the deadly needle and these defenseless animals.

Official protest time: 1:30-4:30pm (Pacific time)

Many will arrive much earlier; bring posters, fliers, and any information that may help spread awareness & call for reforms.

With the new change announced by the head of L.A. animal services, Brenda Barnette, that the New Hope coordinators at shelters who help expedite rescuers’ work,  will be abolished, meaning even more dogs left at the shelters to die, and with California’s Governor Jerry Brown freezing funding to the essential progress the Hayden Law has made, increasing even more deaths by the tens of thousands (http://authorsinfo.com/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=123&Itemid=666), this protest is even more important than ever. The movement No Kill L.A. and this protest Sat. May 12 can bring much needed awareness to the epidemic numbers being unlawfully and unhealthily bred, abused, neglected, and surrendered to shelters. Other countries mandate spay/neuter AND education for anyone getting an animal, and their standards for obtaining breeding licenses are so high, only those with genetic certificates can maintain a breed’s population. Their shelters have so much room, they openly adopt seniors and special needs dogs from other nations. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYBt6rfsj6w)  If U.S. does not implement such reforms soon, millions will continue to needlessly be killed every year, while rescues and shelters continue to be overcrowded with no end in sight. It is not a financial problem, it is a mentality that does not value life, that seeks selfish gratification, and that fails to commit the moment something becomes less than convenient.  Taxpayers’ money funds the killing of millions of animals, and would be put to much better use funding reforms. Please let your voice be heard for the dogs who are counting on us to save their lives. Without our support, they are just waiting to die.

Specifically for Devore shelter:

Josie Gonzales is chairman of San Bernadino County and is running again for Board Supervisor on June 6, 2012.  She has never had an opponent run against her before, and this protest is a rare opportunity to take the wind out of her campaign’s sails. She supports Devore’s high kill methods. Her network of supporters are equally ineffective and frankly, dangerous for the dogs who are at their mercy: Brain Cronin, Director of San Bernadino County Animal Control, and Doug Smith and Kelly Papp who manage Devore and personally refused donations and refused to make improvements. Josie Gonazales is even currently being investigated by the FBI on more than one count.  

One reform that was promised but has yet to be implemented is a committee at Devore shelter to work on issues and reforms with the San Bernadino County Board of Supervisors. Josie Gonzales has clearly opposed this oversight and accountability, and Saturday’s protest is a means by which people can call for her position to be usurped and demand a committee to be enacted, a decision which could be decided by the end of the month, so time is of the essence.

Devore holds the power, as they can label any dog “rescue dog”, due to “expert” evaluations; a dog who is just scared to be in the stressful and unfamiliar shelter environment, who may be in pain from an injury, left untreated, and not handled with proper techniques can be labeled “aggressive” and put down within just a matter of days. Often even strays’ owners barely have time enough to find their dog, who may be euthanized before an owner finds which shelter the dog is in to reclaim him in time. Who holds the needle to euthanize may seem to have the power, but this protest is a way to wrest it from their hands. If we call them shelters, then they should be just that: a “shelter”, a place of protection, not a slaughterhouse.

Devore shelter

19777 Shelter Way

Devore, CA 92407

(909) 887-8055 ext. 0

San Bernadino County

Please join the forefront of the very important and growing movement  to spread public awareness and call for urgently needed reforms and more humane treatment of animals.