Defending the Defenseless: A Guide to Protecting and Advocating for Pets

313 Pages·2011·1.05 MB·English

by  Allie Phillips

Defending the Defenseless
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Defending the Defenseless
A Guide to Protecting
and Advocating for Pets
Allie Phillips
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
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Published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowmanlittlefield.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2011 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who
may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Phillips, Allie, 1966–
Defending the defenseless : a guide to protecting and advocating for pets / Allie
Phillips.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4422-0214-6 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4422-0216-0 (electronic)
1. Animal rights—United States. 2. Animal rights activists—United States.
3. Animal welfare—Law and legislation—United States. I. Title.
HV4764.P45 2011
179’.3—dc22 2011007582
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
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This book is dedicated to every person who has ever adopted an animal,
helped an animal get to safety, or supported those that do the work every
day to care for homeless, abused, and neglected animals. It is dedicated
to those organizations and facilities that do better each day to nurture the
animals in their care, knowing that sharing their heart, a hug, and a comfy
blanket may make all the difference in the life of that animal. This book
is in honor of the volunteers who re-home pets in overcrowded shelters,
open their homes to provide foster care, and remove animals from inhu-
mane environments. Without your compassionate hearts, we as humans
would have no hope of evolving to possess the unconditional love and
nonjudgmental hearts of our animal companions.
This book is also dedicated to my parents, who raised me to love ani-
mals of all kinds, to help those in need, and to be charitable toward ani-
mals. This book is also for all the cats I have saved and re-homed over the
years, as well as those I could not save in time. Looking into the accepting
eyes of my cats Oscar, Lucy, and Sammy gives me the strength and desire
to help just one more.
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Contents
Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv
1 Animal Rights and Animal Welfare: Where Do
You Stand? 1
2 Becoming an Animal Advocate: Where to Start 9
3 Staying Strong and Resilient: Overcoming Conflict and
Compassion Fatigue 23
4 Humane Education: Kids Helping Animals 35
5 Advocating for Shelter Animals: Ending Outdated and
Questionable Shelter Practices 51
6 Models for Thriving Animal Organizations:
Saving More Lives through Innovation 79
7 Saving a Life: Transporting Shelter Animals 105
8 Preventing Cruelty and Neglect of Animals 117
9 Protecting Feral Cats 137
10 Animal Emergency Preparedness: Disaster Response,
Search and Rescue 155
11 Attorneys Advocating for Animals 167
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viii CONTENTS
12 Lobbying for Animals 185
13 Using Your Words to Benefit Animals 197
14 Communicating With and Healing Animals 205
15 Keeping People and Pets Together: Everyone Can Help 225
16 Conclusion: Welcome to the Journey! 237
Appendix A: Pound Seizure Fact Sheet 243
Appendix B: Humane Euthanasia Fact Sheet 249
Notes 253
Resources 269
Index 271
About the Author 277
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Foreword
By Mark Goldstein, DVM, CAWA
President, San Diego Humane Society and SPCA
We live in a world where the body of knowledge is expanding exponen-
tially, and social causes are being increasingly evaluated by the impact
they have. Appropriately, the value that decision makers, philanthropists,
and members of our community will look to in determining their level of
support or rejection of social causes will be determined by that cause’s
impact, not its output. Thus, the ability to identify and communicate that
impact may very well determine the opportunity for success or failure.
Understanding the importance of clear communications, along with a
lifelong love of animals and my respect for the incredible work so many
people contribute in strengthening the human-animal bond, led me to
realize it was a great honor when Allie Phillips asked me to write the
foreword for this book. As a veterinarian and animal welfare advocate of
more than thirty years, I am constantly looking to increase the impact I
have in supporting that bond—a bond with animals that provides us with
unconditional love on a daily basis and asks for nothing in return.
As I sat down to write this foreword, fate intervened and I ran into a
young man by the name of Kele. Before he became aware of what I was
writing, he shared with me that he had recently “purchased an orange cat
for his wife.” He went on to explain how important the cat had become in
both of their lives. I asked him why he chose to purchase a cat from a pet
store rather than adopt one from any number of animal welfare organiza-
tions in the area. He noted that he had called a few of these organizations
to inquire about the possibility of adopting an orange cat. He explained to
them that the color was a really important attribute for his wife. He shared
with me that the responses he received from the organizations he had called
were less than helpful or supportive. He said they could not assure him that
an orange cat would be available when he came for a visit, and they even
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