As fate would have it, Susan Houser dropped a post today on "Out The Front Door" that well-demonstrates everything I've said in this one. It's all smoke and mirrors--hype at its finest. I'm not saying they're bad people--although it's hard to see much good in any animal welfare advocate who lets themselves be photographed with their arms around the ACOs in the Russell County Abuse Report linked above. VFHS did not require the termination of either ACO and in fact went on a campaign (unsuccessful, btw,) to debunk the report despite overwhelming empirical evidence supporting its claims.
Why do I say it's hype? How is it smoke and mirrors? Because MY RESCUE HAS TRIED TO SEND DOGS to groups represented by people in this photo. With the exception of Makena Yarbrough, none of them would entertain a conversation with me or my volunteers about this because my dogs would be difficult adoptions. Why? Because out here on the front lines, I don't get to cherry pick!!! So they won't take our poor little hounds and pit mixes and dogs terrified of their own shadows, since they might have to keep them for a while, and doing so would torpedo their live release rate numbers.
What galls me more than anything is that while they're so busy blowing smoke up everybody's butts about transport programs, they completely disregard the solution that would put them all out of a job. What's this solution? AGGRESSIVE, FULLY FUNDED SPAY AND NEUTER PROGRAMS FOR COMMUNITY-OWNED ANIMALS. Hello? Duh? Does anyone besides me think that all these highly visible people with all these great fundraising inroads ought to be thinking of permanent solutions to the problem, not more ways to twist tourniquets on the artery? The nickels and dimes thrown at spay/neuter programs that currently exist don't make a dent in the problem.
So I tell you what: give me $100,000 a year for five years, and I will END the need for transporting animals from Central Appalachia. Test me. Please. In fact, don't give me a dime. Not one red cent. Simply commit those funds to paying for the overhead and veterinary expense of a spay/neuter program at my discretion. Don't freaking tell me the owners have to pay $20 of it themselves, or that we can't include rabies vaccines. Raise the money. Put the "real" rescuers in charge of the solution, and you might actually see some effing results.
https://outthefrontdoor.com/2018/10/11/virginias-no-kill-effort-innovation-and-inspiration/