First a note from ADL-LA:

If you log on to this web site,  NKE   ( http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/nokillequation.html ) you can see that No Kill Solutions has programs, policies, and protocols which have been proven to  decrease the kill rate and drastically increase the adoption rate in the city shelters where they have been implemented. Why should Jennifer Pryor or her "steering committee" (mentioned in her letters below), who are NOT experts in this field, try and reinvent the wheel?

If Ms. Pryor or her steering committee want to know how to implement multiple, daily off-site pet adoptions, she should consult No Kill Solutions. NKS has already implemented these and other programs at many municipal city shelters across the country, and have successfully and drastically increased their adoption rates.

If NKS has done the work of coming up with step by step instructions and formulas on what is needed and how to implement these types of programs, why wouldn't Ed Boks "inner circle" be  taking advantage of this information? Is it ego? Is it lethargy? Or is it a case of not wanting to make Ed Boks mad? This lack of immediate action by Boks, the City, and those within the humane community is simply allowing more animals to be killed every day; therefore we all have the blood of these animals on our hands.

So our question for all of you reading this post is, what can YOU do about the fact that Villaraigosa and his staff refuse to carry through with the pledge made in late 2005 to hire No Kill Solutions to come in and consult, hire a general manager who would spear head the implementation of these No Kill programs and work closely with No Kill Solutions to make the city of LA No Kill?  Nathan Winograd has stated many times directly to the humane community, and has apparently even told individuals like Jimmy Blackman personally, that if the City was interested and showed some level of sincerity, he would not only help them recruit a true leader who is able to implement the No Kill Equation, but if they hired the right person he would help that person through his consulting work to make LA into a No Kill city. 

But Winograd has also made it very clear to the LA humane community that in order for him to consult and help LA become No Kill, there would have to be some show of commitment by the Mayor's Office to really make this No Kill model work; and as of this time, there is NO such commitment from the city.

We suggest to all of you that we must be more proactive in helping these poor suffering animals who are being killed inside LAAS; and the ONLY thing that is holding back a victory for these animals is YOU! If you are willing to demand that Villaraigosa keep his 2005 pledge then this will happen.

On the STOP THE KILLING web site there are all the addresses, e-mails and contact information you need to get in touch with ALL the big-wig "targets" and remind them CONSTANTLY that they work for YOU, and that they'd better start doing the right thing for these poor animals. Just go to www.StopTheKilling.net and click on targets and go from there. There are also effective demonstrations that take place, which unfortunately only a very small minority of individuals have the courage to participate in. So it's really up to you. If you're content doing the same thing you've been doing for years, with few positive results to show for it, maybe you ought to start thinking about a new strategy!  

Remember,

If not YOU, then WHO?

If not NOW, then WHEN? 

ADL-LA  

Pryor's most recent letters to Boks:

Ed:
I just got off the phone call you made to me regarding my last email and I feel somewhat manipulated.
Here is why:
You called  and asked me to "help you euthanize the dogs" and when I suggested that that was better than warehousing them where they fight and get sick then you suggested that the Steering committee, of whom on this email there are 4, never followed through on concrete suggestions who would fund. I suspect that Pnina, Randee, Kari, Lawrence and myself will challenge that remark.
( For example, we agreed to have a volunteer based education program on weekends for the general public and we also suggested Special Events for adoptions/rescues).

But most disturbing to me Ed is that you are now blaming the management of East Valley.
Allow me to enlighten you:  the East Valley New Hope program and management is one of the most rescue friendly shelters. How I  know this is because Pryor's Planet pulls  from there a lot.. More importantly  is the fact that the  CRISIS is not just occurring at East Valley but it is just as alarming at North, South and at Harbor, a brand new shelter.

You are placing the blame on your subordinates, hard working people who are the back bone of LAAS.
I would humbly suggest that you might begin taking some responsibility; yes, foreclosures are another part of the equation but the overcrowding in the shelter is certainly exacerbated by the housing crisis but absolutely not solely responsible  and certainly not due to a lack of  management, it is coming from the top because of the numbers game.

In closing Ed, I find the fact that you called me personally rather than addressing the many people whom I have been including in these emails, disrespectful to those on this email and myself.  I most definitely  had the impression you wish me to be quiet. I cannot sit in silence as I, and many others, watch this catastrophe unfold nor will I ever be quiet until the conditions in the shelters improve. Again, I must remind you Ed, the issue is that this is Los Angeles Ed and NO KILL will take many years to achieve and certainly, warehousing will not expedite it.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Lee Pryor

Ed,
Respectfully, please don't reduce this to 'a shelter problem'....your workers are dedicated individuals who work to the bone to keep up, they always have been!
This is a systemic problem which starts at the top. You are the one who needs to understand, we can only achieve NO KILL through education and outreach; no matter how many shelters you build,  they will fill up and you will be warehousing as the case is now!

When we had the "steering committee" meetings we offered to create educational  programs and multicultural outreach programs to the public that would be run by volunteers at no cost to the department.
You never took us up on it.
We offered adoption fairs to increase adoptions, you never took us up on that!
I can go on, however, I am quite sure you get the point.

To resolve this agonizing crisis, it must come from you Ed, not the shelters, nor the hardworking staff.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Pryor

7/11/2008 11:48 AM 

       
Ed:
I understand your quest to make the city NO KILL, however, without an
education /outreach program in our community; you are actually
warehousing the animals. I have been to the shelters, there are up to 5
to 6 large dogs in a kennel and over  ten small dogs in  puppy cages.
This has reached crisis proportion.
 
Many cannot get to their food, others hide their cubbies in terror, the
older ones are paralyzed with fear and all are  unable to sleep at
night. It is unsafe for the dogs, it is unsafe for the staff and more
importantly, LAAS has become inhumane.

The ideal of NO KILL is phenomenal, however, it will take far more than
simply stopping putting down animals in order to achieve it.
Ed, you must begin listening to people and do something about it.
 
NO KILL cannot work by ware housing.
 
Sincerely,
Jennifer Lee Pryor