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Friendly Fire
When animal lovers learn about the cruelty and killing that are rampant in U.S. shelters, and that national animal protection organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) defend these shelters and thwart efforts at reform, the first and the most logical question they ask is: Why? Why are organizations which are supposed to protect animals the biggest defenders of the very shelters that systematically abuse and kill them? Exploring the historical, sociological and financial motivations behind the unlikely support these shelters receive from HSUS, the ASPCA and PETA, among others, Friendly Fire answers this confounding question while telling the stories of animals who have become catalysts for change: Oreo, Ace, Patrick, Kapone, Zephyr, Hope, Scruffy, Murray and many others. Contains graphic images. Full color. There is also a black and white edition.
- GenresAnimalsDogsNonfiction
280 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 22, 2012
14 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Nathan J. Winograd
10 books13 followersNathan J. Winograd is a graduate of Stanford Law School, a former criminal prosecutor and corporate attorney, has spoken nationally and internationally on animal sheltering issues, has written animal protection legislation at the state and national level, has created successful No Kill programs in both urban and rural communities, and has consulted with a wide range of animal protection groups including some of the largest and best known in the nation.
His work has been featured widely in such publications as Newsweek, Reader’s Digest, USA Today, and newspapers from all over the country. He has appeared on Fox News, CNN, ABC, and other radio and television affiliates around the country. His creation of the country’s first No Kill community was named one of the Top 100 achievements in the nation by Metropolitan Home in its “Best of the Best” issue. And The Bark magazine calls him “the voice of America’s displaced pets and the conscience of the animal sheltering industry.”
His book, Redemption, is the most critically acclaimed book on the topic in the United States and the winner of five national book awards. Winner of USA Book News Award for Best Book (Animals/Pets), a Best Book Muse Medallion winner by the Cat Writers Association of America, an Award of Excellence and Best Book nominee by the Dog Writers Association of America, winner of a Silver Medal from the Independent Publishers Association, and runner-up for the Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in Publishing, the book shatters the notion that killing animals in U.S. shelters is an act of kindness. He is also the author of Irreconcilable Differences, a collection of essays that follows up where Redemption left off and asks – and answers – the question of whether we can do better as a society when it comes to our stewardship of companion animals.
As a nationally recognized speaker, Nathan has also spoken at national animal welfare conferences from coast to coast. He has spoken internationally as well, as a guest of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and has been invited to speak as far away as Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the Czech Republic. He has also lectured on animal sheltering ethics to students at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, the nation’s number one ranked veterinary school, and has lectured at the U.C.L.A. School of Law on animal law issues.
In various leadership positions, including Director of Operations, for the San Francisco SPCA, Nathan was instrumental in advancing some of the most progressive shelter programs in the nation, and helped push the lifesaving rate to over three times the national average for an urban community and at the time, the best in the nation. As Executive Director for the Tompkins County (NY) SPCA, he managed the full range of animal control and adoption services in a rural community, including construction of a new Pet Adoption Center achieving unprecedented results. Nathan is currently the Executive Director of the national No Kill Advocacy Center.
His work has been featured widely in such publications as Newsweek, Reader’s Digest, USA Today, and newspapers from all over the country. He has appeared on Fox News, CNN, ABC, and other radio and television affiliates around the country. His creation of the country’s first No Kill community was named one of the Top 100 achievements in the nation by Metropolitan Home in its “Best of the Best” issue. And The Bark magazine calls him “the voice of America’s displaced pets and the conscience of the animal sheltering industry.”
His book, Redemption, is the most critically acclaimed book on the topic in the United States and the winner of five national book awards. Winner of USA Book News Award for Best Book (Animals/Pets), a Best Book Muse Medallion winner by the Cat Writers Association of America, an Award of Excellence and Best Book nominee by the Dog Writers Association of America, winner of a Silver Medal from the Independent Publishers Association, and runner-up for the Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in Publishing, the book shatters the notion that killing animals in U.S. shelters is an act of kindness. He is also the author of Irreconcilable Differences, a collection of essays that follows up where Redemption left off and asks – and answers – the question of whether we can do better as a society when it comes to our stewardship of companion animals.
As a nationally recognized speaker, Nathan has also spoken at national animal welfare conferences from coast to coast. He has spoken internationally as well, as a guest of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and has been invited to speak as far away as Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the Czech Republic. He has also lectured on animal sheltering ethics to students at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, the nation’s number one ranked veterinary school, and has lectured at the U.C.L.A. School of Law on animal law issues.
In various leadership positions, including Director of Operations, for the San Francisco SPCA, Nathan was instrumental in advancing some of the most progressive shelter programs in the nation, and helped push the lifesaving rate to over three times the national average for an urban community and at the time, the best in the nation. As Executive Director for the Tompkins County (NY) SPCA, he managed the full range of animal control and adoption services in a rural community, including construction of a new Pet Adoption Center achieving unprecedented results. Nathan is currently the Executive Director of the national No Kill Advocacy Center.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 1, 2017
This book is a must read by anybody who thinks that the national "humane" groups actually save dogs and cats. I know from bitter experience at Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary in Delaware that the ASPCA kills the remaining animals at shelters that they come in to rescue. They do "temperament testing" of the dogs and decide Pit Bulls are "aggressive" regardless of whether they are or not. There were rescuers at the door on the day ASPCA packed up and left Safe Haven and the killing of the Safe Haven 19 was a community tragedy that still hurts, especially for staff and volunteers who knew the dogs and tried to save them. The worst of it was that the ASPCA decided that dogs could only be pulled if the nonprofit had a facility - of course almost all rescue groups use foster homes and don't have facilities. Because I had read Winograd's book before Safe Haven closed, I figured this would happen and I tried to warn the community on my blog. Volunteers and rescue groups desperately did everything they could. This awful story is included in Mark Barone's Act of Dog project. Mark contacted me on my No Kill Delaware Facebook page and offerred to paint all 19 dogs. It helped us with our grieving. I tell the story of Safe Haven on my blog www.nokillstation.net
January 24, 2013
It's fair to say up front that Nathan Winograd is not a calm, easy-going kind of guy. He's a passionate advocate for shelter reform and animal welfare, and he does not mince words or give quarter to those who disagree with him.
This is a tough discussion of what's wrong in the American animal sheltering system, what can be done about it, and what, or rather, in his opinion, who the problems are.
The Winograds discuss, in sometimes painful detail, what's wrong in many American shelters: bad hours, bad hygiene, bad procedures, poor standards, high kill rates that have nothing to do with the animals that come in and everything to do with bad standards of care, inaccessibility, and obstacles to, rather than promotion of, adoption.
Nathan Winograd is a primary, and fiery, advocate of the No Kill Equation, a set of principles, policies, and programs that taken together, should bring any community to a status of killing no healthy or treatable animals. It sounds very pie-in-the-sky, but it is working in many communities in the US. Nor is Winograd an armchair expert. In the 1990s, he was part of the team that brought San Francisco nearly to No Kill, and in 2001, he became the director of the Tompkins County animal control shelter, and transformed it into a No Kill community, a status it retains to this day.
However, he's also harsh in his judgments of those who do not agree with him. Anyone who has paid close attention to sheltering in the US knows that there are bad "shelters" run by bad people who clearly do not care in the slightest about the animals--who are abusive, indifferent, and corrupt. What Winograd misses is that there are also good people who haven't garnered the support and the funding to make changes they know their shelters need, and people who are overwhelmed and don't see the path out that Winograd says is there--sometimes because of the harshness with which Winograd delivers his message.
I have other issues with this book, including the Winograds' denunciation of "biological nativism," which they flirt with identifying with Naziism, coming that close to committing a Godwin violation. The occasion for this is cats; the hostility to free-roaming cats by, especially, bird enthusiasts, is frequently well over the edge into fanaticism, tossing around entirely fanciful numbers on both the reproduction rate of cats, and the rate at which they kill birds.
What the Winograds fail to recognize is that while cats are not the dire threat they're made out to be, and mostly do the job they signed up for a few thousand years ago in Egypt--controlling the rodent population--some invasive species do in fact do major damage, not just change, but major damage, reducing biological diversity and the overall health of local ecosystems. And, frankly, there's no reason we should not seek to preserve unique local species, even if some newly introduced species can fill the same niche. I think we can defend cats without also defending purple loosestrife. We can judge individual invasive species (ourselves included!) on their individual merits and impacts.
Nevertheless, if you're interested in improving your local shelter, there's a lot of practical advice and inspirational material here.
Recommended with caveats as stated.
I received a free electronic copy of this book.
This is a tough discussion of what's wrong in the American animal sheltering system, what can be done about it, and what, or rather, in his opinion, who the problems are.
The Winograds discuss, in sometimes painful detail, what's wrong in many American shelters: bad hours, bad hygiene, bad procedures, poor standards, high kill rates that have nothing to do with the animals that come in and everything to do with bad standards of care, inaccessibility, and obstacles to, rather than promotion of, adoption.
Nathan Winograd is a primary, and fiery, advocate of the No Kill Equation, a set of principles, policies, and programs that taken together, should bring any community to a status of killing no healthy or treatable animals. It sounds very pie-in-the-sky, but it is working in many communities in the US. Nor is Winograd an armchair expert. In the 1990s, he was part of the team that brought San Francisco nearly to No Kill, and in 2001, he became the director of the Tompkins County animal control shelter, and transformed it into a No Kill community, a status it retains to this day.
However, he's also harsh in his judgments of those who do not agree with him. Anyone who has paid close attention to sheltering in the US knows that there are bad "shelters" run by bad people who clearly do not care in the slightest about the animals--who are abusive, indifferent, and corrupt. What Winograd misses is that there are also good people who haven't garnered the support and the funding to make changes they know their shelters need, and people who are overwhelmed and don't see the path out that Winograd says is there--sometimes because of the harshness with which Winograd delivers his message.
I have other issues with this book, including the Winograds' denunciation of "biological nativism," which they flirt with identifying with Naziism, coming that close to committing a Godwin violation. The occasion for this is cats; the hostility to free-roaming cats by, especially, bird enthusiasts, is frequently well over the edge into fanaticism, tossing around entirely fanciful numbers on both the reproduction rate of cats, and the rate at which they kill birds.
What the Winograds fail to recognize is that while cats are not the dire threat they're made out to be, and mostly do the job they signed up for a few thousand years ago in Egypt--controlling the rodent population--some invasive species do in fact do major damage, not just change, but major damage, reducing biological diversity and the overall health of local ecosystems. And, frankly, there's no reason we should not seek to preserve unique local species, even if some newly introduced species can fill the same niche. I think we can defend cats without also defending purple loosestrife. We can judge individual invasive species (ourselves included!) on their individual merits and impacts.
Nevertheless, if you're interested in improving your local shelter, there's a lot of practical advice and inspirational material here.
Recommended with caveats as stated.
I received a free electronic copy of this book.
March 11, 2016
No-Kill shelters and animal control facilities should be the goal for every community. The slaughter of innocent animals must stop. The only way it will stop is for those of us who care to FORCE the people in charge to change. If they wanted to be no-kill, they would have already done it, so now they must be FORCED into doing the right, the humane thing.
Start with spay/neuter to decrease the numbers of homeless animals.
Then, make change happen in your local animal shelters and pounds.
Read this book. Share it. Then go out and change the world.
Start with spay/neuter to decrease the numbers of homeless animals.
Then, make change happen in your local animal shelters and pounds.
Read this book. Share it. Then go out and change the world.
August 4, 2014
A difficult but important read for any animal lover that exposes the hypocrisy of our nation's largest animal shelters. Need for reform is urgent as millions of dogs' & cats' lives are at stake. This book's message will haunt but hopefully inspire you to take action in your local community. I know it did for me.
January 10, 2014
Amazing and brilliant! This was better than I expected and so informational. The truth needs to get out about what is really going on with our shelters/big name corporations that are trying to "help" animals.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews