Other Voices

REDEMPTION: The Myth of Pet Population and the No-Kill Revolution in America

(Almaden Books, 2007)

This review is abridged from a longer version in the Abolitionist Online (www.abolitionist-online.com; May 2007).

He’s called the doyen of the No-Kill Movement in America, unusually gifted in an area desperate for his talents of oratory, rescue and the written word.

Nathan Winograd’s proven track record helped San Francisco in the 1990’s into No-Kill when they were on the verge of bankruptcy. Under his leadership, Tompkins County, New York became the first community in the nation to save all dogs and cats, whether healthy, sick, injured or feral, in the case of cats.

He tells us in his latest book Redemption: The Myth of Pet Population and the No-Kill Revolution in America that every year Americans alone spend more than $38 billion on animals in their homes – and six out of ten U.S. homes include animals. Pet cemeteries are growing in popularity. And in a 1987 study by the U.S. National Institute of Health, 99% of people with pets admitted they talk to their animals; about 4 out of 10 keep pictures of them in their wallets or celebrate their pet’s birthday. A subsequent study in 1999 found that nearly nine out of ten people include their pets in holiday celebrations, over half will take time off work to care for a sick pet, and 52% will prepare special meals for them. Pets are family members. So where did it all go wrong for them?

The politics involved with killing pound animals is enormous – and so is the money involved! One by one, Winograd takes them on; and they must wonder what has hit them. Winograd’s formidable intellect destroys the myths mega-rich and unaccountable animal welfare leaders have, until now, spoon-fed the general public for so long. The implications of Winograd’s book are profound, its urgency lying in his careful analysis of how and why pro-killing shelters continue.

Redemption tells us, for example, that the Humane Society of the United States is the largest and wealthiest humane agency in the world. In 2006 alone, its operating budget was a whopping $103 million. Yet the Humane Society of the United States operates not one shelter nor rescues one abandoned or homeless dog or cat. Another example: When Kim Sturla, representing the Peninsula Humane Society in San Mateo, Cal. killed eight animals, five cats and three dogs on television, this public execution was applauded by Ingrid Newkirk from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. A spokesperson for PETA at the time said, “We’re hoping that this sort of approach is going to catch on.”

Most readers won’t need reminding that killing healthy animals, on television or otherwise, is immoral.

Americans have donated billions to animal welfare over the years to champion the cause of getting homeless animals re-homed and safe. Yet this has not happened, and you have to ask yourself: Why?

Let Redemption: The Myth of Pet Population and the No-Kill Revolution in America tell you.

Winograd’s credentials are impeccable. He is a graduate of Stanford Law School and was both a former criminal prosecutor and corporate attorney. An ethical vegan and lifelong animal rescuer, his passion has always been helping animals, and he left the law to dedicate himself to that task. In 2004 he started the No-Kill Advocacy Center, dedicated to creation of a No-Kill Nation. He has helped agencies and municipalities all over the United States reduce their rates of shelter killing and he has a busy website : www.nathanwinograd.com. Winograd has declared war against the killing of innocent victims that could be avoided with the right attitude, programs and energy in place.

This book is a product of its time, and it’s so important to hear his message. Killing healthy animals is not non-violent direct action. It’s not some “kindness” that humans undertake to show mercy on a healthy animal. It is a betrayal and the first step to eliminating a betrayal is to start to see the killing for what it really is.

Rejecting the old notion that nothing can be done for homeless, sick and injured animals except killing them, Redemption equally seeks to deconstruct the assumption that participants in this mass carnage going on unabated in every shelter and pound in rich countries will seek animals’ rights and welfare in a vague and distant future but for now killing dogs and cats is acceptable. Who calls the shots? Calling them to account is a job long overdue. The public won’t stand for it and neither will a critical mass of people, growing daily, that rejects the euphemisms ‘unadoptable’ and ‘untreatable.’ Viva Redemption!

The book is now available through Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and others, including the independents.