Statements taken from senior managers, and current and former volunteers, outlined a pattern of lack of caring, constant lying, emphasis on career advancement, manipulation of reports and statistics, and an overall attitude of “We don’t care if the dog goes out the front door or the back door”.

Two top attorneys at Kaye Scholer worked hundreds of hours on the case while the firm supported our cause pro bono. The final report completed over 100 pages of case law reviews, legal challenge options, and New York State statute analysis, in an effort to find a cause of action to file a lawsuit. The sentiment was that once standing ad cause of action was achieved, evidence could be introduced which would then shock the public, thus forcing the administration into reform.

As we read the attorney’s findings, we found ourselves somewhere in between a need to cry hysterically and extreme nausea. The attorneys had concluded that while the evidence may be valid, the legal framework in the State of New York had evolved in a way that did not enable outside parties to file lawsuits on behalf of the animals. Since the dogs are unable to sue for themselves, and humans are blocked from representing them, the killing fields of New York City shelters are, sadly, legal.

In essence, our wonderful elected officials here in the Empire State made it possible for contracted agencies to do whatever they want with the animals in their care, including killing every single animal, without having to answer any questions from outsiders. It is as though they gave a piece of paper to the criminal asking for him to write down the names of all the people he would allow to prosecute him. Not surprisingly, the criminal wrote down one name, "none". That is basically the law in New York State when it comes to animals. Did they intend it this way, or did they just never give it any thought, who knows?

This organization and its cause remain eternally grateful to Kaye Scholer LLP and the two dedicated, caring and brilliant attorneys that invested hundreds of hours for this cause. They are the best of the best among us, individuals of exception and courage. Alas, while this summer we hoped and anticipated to headline this newsletter with the filing of a major lawsuit against New York City Animal Care and Control, and all the politicos behind that organization, we instead regretfully announce our failure.

While we graciously accept defeat, we simultaneously congratulate Ms. Charlene Pedrolie, Dr. Thomas Frieden and Mayor Bloomberg, for effectively handcuffing and muzzling the public. The New York State legislature and the aforementioned officers have failed the animals, thus assuring their own survival and power. All possible change must emanate from the State Legislature, and in that direction we will now focus our efforts. Imagine a day when we will elect enough politicians with the social will and conscience to initiate such non self-serving change. The dogs still have much waiting to do.

DogsInDanger simply displayed the mechanics of this social contract in its operating form. Much as opening the back of that fancy new flat panel TV mired with complex electronics will not forever turn one off to all televisions, the thought was ... let people see the wheels turning so that caring individuals can make efforts toward slowing the process a little. Innocent, flawless, just, and successful, one would think, looking at the 20,000+ dogs that have been saved from death. Nothing can be further from the truth!

Our efforts have garnered 492 shelters to sign up for our free service -four hundred and ninety two courageous managers that tiptoed with righteousness. However, the numbers behind the numbers tell a much more ominous story. Fully 190 of those shelters (almost 40%) never uploaded a single dog to the website. An additional 111 only put up 10 dogs or less and never came back. That means 61% of our shelters were non-existent.

Even worse, currently, in the New England region: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, not a single dog is listed. It's not that dogs are not dying in those states. Shelter managers throughout the Northeast value their public relations image so much that they prefer to continue discreetly killing dogs rather than tarnishing their public image by allowing the public to actually see the dogs on their death lists. How did shelters gain the power to make these decisions? Again, the social contract the majority made granted them the exclusive force to decide life and death. Who are these people? Have they no shame? Does the ruling majority have no shame for accepting the laws that empower such omnipotence?

It was a simple idea, not a grand scheme like PETA asking people to sacrifice their pallets for humane justice, or the Humane Society’s goals of making our society a more animal friendly civilization. No, DogsInDanger simply asked shelters to display the animal prior to resorting to its death. We never condemned the action or the society that allows the action. Shelters don’t have to change any of the rules, we said. Keep running the system the way you want, no conscience dramas - just list the dog for adoption a few days before you have to kill it. Give the dogs that chance at life.

There is no defeat quite so painful as the tyranny of the majority, enforcing their will just because they can…no explanations necessary. It is this uncaring, “whimsical” exercise of power that brought down the feudal system and the British Empire. In the later case, even though many of the countries garnered greater misery since gaining independence, getting rid of their “unfair” masters still echoed stronger. There is NO HOPE for our movement unless we refuse to accept this tyranny imposed on large patches of American society, those of us with a conscience.

Rico was also able to interpret phrases such as "fetch the sock" in terms of its component words (rather than considering its utterance to be a single word). Rico could also give the sock to a specified person. Most amazingly, Rico was able to identify and distinguish between more than 200 toys. Researchers even placed a new toy among seven familiar toys and, using a word Rico had never heard before, asked him to fetch the new toy. Seventy percent of the time, Rico fetched the correct toy, indicating statistically and conclusively that he used deductive reasoning in associating the new word with the new toy.

Besides the amazing Rico, other dogs have exhibited tremendous learning capabilities and intelligence. In 2008, Betsy, also a Border collie, was featured on the cover of National Geographic Magazine. Betsy's intelligence rivaled that of Rico's in that she knew over 340 words and was able to distinguish the correlation between an image in a photograph and an actual object, despite having seen neither before. These complex dogs bring us to Stanley Coren’s famous book “The Intelligence of Dogs” where he ranked dog breeds by intelligence. However Mr. Coren’s methodology seemed flawed as it equated intelligence with obedience. Still worse, Coren’s definition does not account for a dog’s choosing NOT obey a command that it does in fact understand. In Coren’s theory, obstinate behavior is akin to stupidity.

A more recent study surveying dog owners concluded that dogs could feel complex emotions such as jealousy, getting in between their owners and other sources of attention. What’s going on here? Their quiet ways tend to hide their true mind from our inquisitions. Six thousand years of constant dog/human companionship can be accounted for. Why is it not possible that, unbeknownst to us, evolution played its games along that long path, developing dogs’ cognitive abilities?

Is there a hierarchy to the brainpower of our canine companions much as we know exists in human psyche? Only real scientific testing will unfold this fascinating story. The funding for this kind of research is almost impossible to garner. Recognizing this fact and the tremendous potential of the research, The Buddy Fund is now considering funding such research at premier institutions around the globe. Just imagine how hard it would be to kill that Border Collie, if it was proven that he knew what you were doing.

As we take in new animals daily, every day that I work, I update both websites. I use a euthanasia date set for every 2 weeks because there is no set amount of time we keep any animal here. We euthanize based on cage space and health. The biggest hurdle that I face is just the sheer number of animals we have coming in. I feel really bad when we're busy and I don't have time to get every dog listed. I feel like I haven't given them enough of a chance, that maybe if I'd worked harder, I could have possibly saved them.

We get emails daily from people all across the country interested in our dogs. Some want to adopt, others just want to know what they can do to help save an animal. We do have the occasional hateful person accusing us of being murderers, etc, but we just brush it off as ignorance.

We've sent dogs all over the country. Nickols, a 5 mo. old beagle mix, was one of the first dogs to be adopted through Dogs In Danger and flew to Denver, CO to start his new life. Cherrio is another dog that sticks out in my mind. She was fostered with my mom, until the people could drive up to get her. They still check in with me from time to time, letting me know Cherrio is doing good and wondering if they can help with anything. We've have adopted dogs to homes in Connecticut, Maine, New York and North Carolina.

It is also important to note that when you look at the photos of Johnson City's available dogs, you will see that each dog has at least one blanket, toys, food and fresh water. Many dogs have dog houses with blankets and you will notice the kennels are clean. Their dogs are as happy as can be expected and happy dogs are more adoptable. The dogs' "smiles" are proof that they are well cared for and are experiencing a quality of life not found in most shelters. It's apparent from the photos that the staff at the shelter is a special group of animal lovers.

From the team at DogsInDanger ... THANK YOU HANNAH for caring so deeply, for loving the dogs and for throwing them this free lifeline. You are an accomplished shelter employee and a positive role model for your peers. Your courage and determination are a breath of fresh air in an industry suffocating from antiquated thinking.

Hannah Greene took the step most difficult; she decided to care more about doing the right thing than having the right image. One day as she closes her eyes for the last time, as we must all do at some point, Hannah will think back to that moment when she decided to throw away all pretension and became one with the world, as thousands of her canine friends will be welcoming her to her forever home.

	Did you know? Los Angeles Animal Services euthanized 19,617 dogs and cats in 2008.