“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”― Gandhi
The greatness of America will one day be judged on how it treated its companion animals. How Will We Be Judged?
We kill sick animals in shelters every day, when a few antibiotics would save their lives. How Will We Be Judged?
We spend millions of dollars euthanizing animals, but few dollars on spay & neuter to save lives. How Will We Be Judged?
We kill animals to empty shelter cages, when we could adopt them. How Will We Be Judged?
We kill companion animals because we do not like their breed. How Will We Be Judged?
We build elaborate million dollar Government buildings, and cheap animal shelters. How Will We Be Judged?
We show our children killing their pets is moral and allowed in society. How Will We Be Judged?
We discard our companion animals after years of them loving us, because we tire of caring for them. How Will We Be Judged?
We spend money to feed our bad habits, yet let our companion animals starve. How Will We Be Judged?
We adopt a companion animal, and then let them sit in a hot car and die. How Will We Be Judged?
We get a companion animal and then tie him to a tree his whole life. How Will We Be Judged?
We look the other way when people abuse their pet because we don’t want to offend them. How Will We Be Judged?
We spend money on pampering ourselves but do not donate a penny to save lives. How Will We Be Judged?
We spend millions for political bridges to nowhere, but no money for saving a homeless animal in our own town. How Will We Be Judged?
We send taxpayer money overseas to Nations that slaughter companion animals and eat them, and spend no Washington money to save, spay & neuter or even feed homeless American companion animals. How Will We Be Judged?
We kill 4 million companion animals every year when we could save them. How Will We Be Judged?
Steve Monahan, Executive Director
National No Kill Humane Society “a Voice for Life” NoKillHumaneSociety.org
In our book RESCUE RENEW REHOME we laid out 20 intelligently thought out points to dramatically increase homeless pet adoptions in America. A 20 point program to end the killing of 4 million dogs and cats in our animal shelters each year. For this article we want to share with you point number #20.
To me this was the most difficult point to create. While the others are logical and use un-common, common sense, developed in our 10 years in dog rescue this last point was the hardest to say out loud.
I always try to be optimistic. I try to never judge anyone. I practice Zen and meditation and try to always focus on happiness. So this final point has weighed hard on my soul. But I could not write this book unless I expressed what I felt in my heart.
And that is: If we are to finally end the killing of healthy, loving, homeless animals in America we must speak the truth. We must look inside ourselves and really ask, why do we allow 4 million animals to be killed every year in America?
The first reason we kill shelter animals is because as I said earlier in this book… we are a disposable society. If we don’t like it we get rid of it. If something shinier comes along we get rid of it. If our pet acts out we get rid of it. If we tire of it we get rid of it.
The other reason is because as humans we always prefer to run from and avoid reality…and then lie to ourselves about it to make ourselves “feel good” rather than speak words of truth and own what we have done.
What are the two lies we tell ourselves?
The two lies are the two words we use to make ourselves feel good about doing something bad…something real bad…killing.
To deny it to ourselves we use two nice sounding words “Shelter” and “Euthanize”
But Shelter is not a truthful word. The definition of a shelter is …a place of safety and refuge. A shelter saves lives and brings help and hope to those that go there. So knowing that – why do we continue to lie to ourselves and use the word “shelter” when our supposed shelters are not shelters? What do you call a place that kills the homeless beings that come to it? I don’t need to name it, but we all know that “shelter” is not the name.
The other lie we tell ourselves to stay in denial and feel good about ourselves is the word “euthanize“.We tell ourselves that we “euthanize” homeless pets. We should use the word of truth – which is kill, not the lie of euthanize.
The definition of euthanize: (Medicine) to kill (a person or animal) painlessly, esp to relieve suffering from an incurable illness.
What incurable illness do our 4 million homeless animals have? What suffering do these 4 million homeless animals endure? And the procedure most shelters use is not a 2 step euthanize, but a one step. And that one step is not painless! What we are doing is killing. We must stop killing and stop using the word euthanize.
We must be honest with ourselves and our children and talk words of truth. The truth shall set you free. And if we start telling the truth we will set our souls free from the horrible burden we are bringing upon our society, by allowing innocent animals to be killed, while we use words that lie, keep us in denial and cover it up.
Green Shelters America has created America’s only green full adoption shelters, affiliate organization. Some use the term”no-kill” we prefer to use the term green full adoption, as our model is green built facilities and full adoption by using our proprietary formula of Rescue Renew Rehome to adopt all healthy savable animals.We developed this program in our 10 years of animal welfare, rescuing renewing and rehoming shelter animals in Atlanta Georgia.
You can learn Why and How to do this in our inspiring new book and how to practical guide to shelter animal conversion – Rescue Renew Rehome – on: Amazon Books.com
We are a 501c3 non-profit founded in 2004 in Atlanta, Georgia. Visit our website at GreenSheltersAmerica.com or email us at GreenSheltersAmerica@gmail.com to receive a package on how to apply to become a licensed affiliate of Green Shelters America non-profit.
“When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money”
Cree Prophecy
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The inspirational short video of how a 22 year veteran police officer reformed his city’s animal shelter and saves the lives of the animals in their care — using volunteers, compassion, conscience, and proven no kill methods.
People often ask me; how did you come up with the name Green Pets America. They generally say I understand pets, and America, but why green? They laugh and ask are your rescued dogs green? Well they aren’t green, but green is very important to us. Green plants us {excuse the pun} into the green movement.
What is the green movement?
The green movement as we think of it today has evolved considerably since the early days. To understand the modern green movement, we have to trace its origins back to the beginning.
So, let’s get started: While many people associate the beginning of the green movement with Rachel Carson’s breakthrough book Silent Spring green environmentalism is in fact rooted in the intellectual thought of the 1830s and 1840s. In fact, the “environmental movement” is a significant thread in the fabric of American philosophical thought most famously accredited to Henry David Thoreau. And later tangibly expanded upon during the era of American pragmatism in the latter half of the 19th century. Green Environmentalism is at once innovative and practical, idealistic and active, one could easily define modern environmentalism as quintessentially American.
“Green Conservation is as American as Teddy Roosevelt”
Though the federal government had begun taking actions to preserve our open lands in the late 1800’s, it was Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir who publicized and popularized conservation. Teddy’s visit to Yosemite in 1903 gained national publicity. By 1916 the National Park Service had been established with leadership by Stephen Mather.
But just as swiftly, the World Wars – sandwiching the traumatic Great Depression – forced environmental concerns to the background of public thought. While the Sierra Club continued to grow rapidly and became instrumental in establishing many vast National parks during these years, environmentalism as we know it today was not a concern for most Americans – or, consequently, the federal government.
It would take disasters and threats to bring environmental issues out of the sciences into the mainstream America again. Green environmentalism in America today isdefinedas leaders who advocate and educate for the sustainable management of resources and stewardship of the land and the environment through changes in public policy and individual behavior.
And, in its recognition of humanity as a participant in (not enemy of) ecosystems, the movement is centered on wellness, ecology, health, and human and animal rights.”
What is a Green Business?
What does it really mean to be a green business? Sure, many businesses are talking the green talk, but are they really walking the green walk?
People, Planet, Profit – Triple Bottom Business Line
People, Planet, Pets, Profit – Quadruple Bottom Business Line
A “green business” has the environment, a social benefit to America, as well as profit. Hence the term Triple Bottom Line; standing for Profit, People, and Planet.
Essentially, the triple bottom line takes ecological and social performance seriously, building it into a three-part organization model that functions along three axes: people, planet, and profit. In other words, rather than considering only profit in measuring a business’ success, the triple bottom line gets companies thinking beyond money to social and environmental factors as well
“Green” is a term that’s thrown around a lot these days to refer to all types of things. From consumer goods, to automobiles, to building to lifestyle choices, everyone’s talking green.
At the very core, green businesses choose to operate in an earth-friendly fashion. They work to adapt their policies, practices, and principles so that they produce a positive result for the environment–whether they’re trying to solve an environmental or societal problem, or they’re just attempting to produce a product that has a smaller footprint.
Green Pets America is a green non-profit business. We have to mentally operate as a profit business however to carefully manage our resources and assets. We however go one step further. We add one more criteria. We expand from a triple bottom line to a quadruple bottom line. We add Pets. Our “Green” definition is People, Planet, Profit, and Pets.
So, in practical terms what does “Green” in our name have to do with the green movement? It means many things on multiple levels. It ties us into the green movement. People, who understand and respect green, understand our values. They understand and relate to our mission and goals. Green is a mission and a value to us. It means we focus on the triple bottom line as any good 21st century business, planet, people, and profits.
But we also add pets. Those who practice “green” understand the desire to not dispose of garbage and pollute our waters and land. Those who respect our planet and people and businesses making profit understand if we should not dispose of garbage, shouldn’t we not dispose of our animals as well. So it means don’t dump, discard and dispose of 4 million shelter animals a year. To us green means recycle, it means fresh and new and sustainable. We educate about the green concept of rescue and recycle. Recycle means adoption. It means foster homes. It means save lives, not destroy lives.
And Green means community animal shelters that are built green. Green shelters protect the environment. They save money for taxpayers. They are cheaper to maintain. They respect the land. And green shelters are good for the animals and the employees and volunteers who work there. Green shelters are open and airy. They are beautiful places for the communities’ citizens to go reclaim a lost dog or adopt an abandoned dog or cat. Green shelters save more animals.
“Green Pets America – the leaders in eco green shelters. The future of animal welfare in America”
No Kill is an innovative, cost-effective model of animal sheltering that allows open admission animal control shelters to save all healthy and treatable animals. Unlike the “adopt some and kill the rest” form of animal sheltering that has dominated in the United States for the past 100 years and is responsible for the needless deaths of millions of healthy and treatable animals every year, No Kill shelters are saving as high as 99% of all animals entrusted to their care.
How It Works
No Kill shelters implement a series of programs and services collectively known as “The No Kill Equation.” The No Kill Equation decreases a shelter’s impounds and increases a shelter’s reclaims while vastly expanding adoptions. The programs of the No Kill Equation include augmenting paid staff with community volunteers, foster care for sick, injured, unweaned or traumatized animals, neuter and release for feral cats, medical and behavior rehabilitation, partnerships with rescue groups, pet retention and effective public relations among others. When implemented comprehensively and with integrity, these programs are transformative.
Achieving No Kill is not complicated, but it does require replacing the traditional model of animal sheltering which is passive, complacent and plagued by convenience killing, with a proactive, can-do attitude and work ethic that rejects killing. The programs of the No Kill Equation require dedication and effort and for this reason, are sometimes portrayed by the traditional sheltering establishment as “controversial.” They are not. They are simple procedures that Americans would be shocked to learn shelters are not already doing.
When a shelter director says they are “opposed to No Kill, It means they reject foster care in favor of killing, reject vaccinations and medical care in favor of killing, reject knocking on doors to get lost dogs’ home rather than killing, and reject adoptions in favor of killing. In other words, they are advocating killing in the face of readily-available, cost-effective alternatives to killing. The same is true of each and every program of the No Kill Equation, because when a shelter implements them comprehensively, they achieve No Kill.
Success across America There are now hundreds of communities representing roughly 500 cities and towns of every conceivable demographic (rich/poor, conservative/liberal, large/small, Northern/Southern, urban/rural) across America that are saving in excess of 90% of all animals.
They range from new communities which have recently achieved that level of success to communities which did so and have continued to do so for more than a decade; from small communities taking in a few thousand animals to large ones taking in as many as 23,000 animals a year. Even Communities with high rates of impounds, foreclosures, unemployment, poverty and transient populations have achieved save rates in the mid-90th percentile.
The vast majority of communities which have achieved success have done so in six months or less. Over one new community per week saved in excess of 90% of all animals in 2012.
More Cost-Effective Than Killing No Kill is good policy that reduces costs associated with killing, enhances community support, increases user fees such as adoption revenues, and brings in additional tax revenues.
Statistics Disprove the Traditional Excuse for Killing There are roughly three million dogs and cats killed in U.S. shelters annually because they lack a home, but about 23.5 million Americans add a new dog or cat to their households every year. We do not have a “pet overpopulation” problem; we have a market share challenge. When shelters compete for the market share of homes and keep animals alive long enough to find those homes, shelter animals are saved rather than killed.
Consistent with Public Safety Since the No Kill philosophy does not mandate that truly vicious dogs and irremediably ill or injured animals be adopted, it is consistent with public health and safety.
Good Public Policy – Popular with Voters Seven out of 10 American believe that it should be illegal to kill animals in shelters unless those animals are suffering or are dangerous. As such, No Kill is a bipartisan issue with broad public support. A No Kill shelter can be a public, municipal agency and there are many No Kill animal control shelters run by government to prove it.
America’s 4 Million Shelter Animals Deserve Better Regardless of whether or not a shelter director believes No Kill is possible, he/she is obligated to try. Even if a shelter director fails to implement the No Kill Equation to the point that it replaces killing entirely, they will certainly save more animals than they would without it, and that is worth doing.
In short, No Kill is a humane, sustainable, cost-effective model that works hand in hand with public safety while reflecting the compassionate, animal-loving values of the American people. To learn more contact Steve Monahan at Steve@GreenPetsAmerica.org
When something bad happens we all wonder why. Why me, why now? Truth is in life sometimes things just happen – and we never learn why.
Well I feel I’m one of the lucky ones. Something very terrible happened to me, but unlike most I found out why – and the why has been a life changer.
I started out, probably just like you, chasing the American Dream. I was fortunate to live in a time when the dream could be caught a little quicker and a bit easier. All you had to do was want it, persevere, work hard and take some risks. But if you did those things you would be rewarded.
Well I chased and eventually caught the dream. I had a loving wife, 4 great kids, a high level corporate career, a beautiful home, nice cars… all was well.
Then my world collapsed and the dream with it. One thing I learned is what we pursue in the outside world eventually changes. Nothing material lasts forever. But most important I learned that what you pursue on the inside; who you are, what ideals you believe in, what makes life really wonderful; even more wonderful that the American dream, is what’s inside of you. It’s our inside spiritual being that is real, more real than our outside.
So what does all this have to do with saving our shelter animals? It has everything. For if my world had not collapsed, had I not been told I had a few months to live….and then against all odds survive, gave me something else. Something better. The chance to see how valuable life is. Surviving death gave me a second chance and a new view on what life is about.
I have learned that we can achieve the impossible, that things can change for the better, and very quickly if Grace and fortune is with us. God and doctors gave me a second chance at life. With that new chance I want to give others a second chance as well. My purpose in life now is to give homeless shelter animals a second chance at life.
In America we believe in Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That reverence for life extends to all life; human and animal. Our companion animals love, serve and protect us. They deserve our love and protection in return. Today there is no longer a need to kill homeless shelter pets in America. We now know how to save them all.
I believe without a doubt that despite the fact that we kill 4 million pets in our Shelters in America…we can save them all. Facts are facts. We now have the ability, the experience, the money and everything else it takes to save all America’s healthy shelter animals. What are we waiting for?
Our new animal welfare book…How To Save Them All…is coming out in August. This book will share with you how you can be a part of the Green Pets America eco-green no-kill vision to save all of America s shelter animals. This book will show you exactly how to help your local animal shelter become a eco-green no kill shelter. And surprisingly it is not that hard. If you want to accomplish it and if you have hope and faith it can be done. It has been done the past few years in over 500 shelters across America. From big cities to small cities. From wealthy areas to poor areas. From urban areas to rural areas.
I was given a second chance; you have the opportunity to give yourself a second chance as well. You do not have to face death. You can start over today. You have a chance to do something remarkable with your life. And you have an opportunity to give every dog and cat sitting on death row a second chance at life.
Never lose hope. Every great achievement in America started with an idea and then hope and faith. Believe in the American Dream…believe in yourself…believe in something much bigger than yourself… and everything is possible.
