How do I go about making change in my city?
February 28, 2023 10:49 AM   Subscribe

I live in a city with a serious stray dog issue and animal control here is underfunded as well as a lack of infrastructure to address the issue. After a recent mauling I'm tired of it and ready to try to do something, but I am not politically active at all and have no idea where to begin.

I know I can contact my council person and mayor, but what to say other than complain? What else to do? I have no idea. Any guidance on where to start?
posted by Saucywench to Law & Government (11 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Consider volunteering. Local rescues need people as do neutering programs. Foster dogs.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 11:17 AM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]


Funding on the local level for animal control is different from city to city. Some funds are controlled by the state and other funds by the city, etc. Some municipalities have animal control under the police. You have to untangle where to funding stream is coming from in order to start lobbying where it matters.

On the local level, asking your local animal groups (maybe the local SPCA) how to help is probably the best place to start.

I have noticed there is more fatigue from workers in the animal control field faced with the impossible task of housing endless animals when there is only X number of cages available. Faced with opposition from animal groups who only want live rescue shelters, many skilled animal control workers just leave. No one wants to euthanize animals but feeding, sheltering and caring for vast number of animals with not many people wanting to adopt leads to bad outcomes.

A good spay/neuter system is a start and volunteering in that area intensively would be of great help.
posted by ichimunki at 11:34 AM on February 28, 2023


Response by poster: Not to threadsit but do want to add I am an animal lover and have a rescue dog and cat myself, but something here has to change.
posted by Saucywench at 12:14 PM on February 28, 2023


Just throwing out an idea here... my understanding is that some areas of the country have greater numbers of stray animals than others, and there is generally a negative correlation between number of strays and infrastructure to address the issue. Could you work with a local recuse to change the pipeline to rehome strays where there are greater supports?
posted by oceano at 1:09 PM on February 28, 2023


The answer to "how do I change X?" is nearly always "start by figuring out who in your area is already trying to change X and join them." To do this, I would:
1.) Look for orgs that might already have an interest in this, including your local humane society and any local animal rescues. If nothing seems exactly right, contact them anyway and ask if they know of anyone with a similar project who they could connect you with. Even the cat rescue people (or even better, a TNR program) might have a lead for you.
2.) Check archives of your local news outlets for any stories about stray dogs in the last 3-5 years. Do they quote anyone? Call the person they quoted.
3.) Maybe all your leads are dead ends. Maybe you can't find a single person in your county who already wants to solve the stray dog problem. What about the next county over? Or somewhere else entirely? Call up someone who has already made progress on this problem somewhere else and pick their brain about what worked for them.

Then:
Consider the various levers of power in your local government. Yes to the mayor's office and your councilperson, but also consider your neighborhood association, your local friends-of-the-park type group, any quality of life type org that might be able to join you in advocacy. Your complaint will go farther if it is signed by a group of people with a shared interest in solving the problem. The people you talk to above should have some ideas for solutions, and you should suggest those to your councilperson. You can literally say "I don't like all the stray dogs because X, Y, and Z. You should introduce an ordinance like the one they have in Neighboringtownville and also increase funding for Helpfulprogram in next year's budget."
posted by juliapangolin at 1:25 PM on February 28, 2023 [19 favorites]


+++ To the other posters ... here are another few of ideas:
Contact your mayor's office and/or city council and request a community meeting on the issue. They may be willing to address it if you help with the parameters of the community meeting on the topic. See if they know why the strays are a problem. Is it housing insecurity? Food insecurity? They broke up some dog fighting rings and now they're all loose? Have there always been packs of feral cats & dogs? Help the city link the pet issue to public health, traffic and other issues that people care about (not in an alarmist way, but perhaps to free up funding).

What do the shelters need besides more people to adopt the pets they have? When I was a teen I used to volunteer to clean cages/kennels and just play with the animals to keep them socialized. Are there programs you can help that get the community involved in their own systems? Our county parks had dog training classes, which helps people have a better relationship with their pet.

Contact a few local vets and see what services they offer for low income pet owners. Can you help them set up a pet food bank? Sometimes helping people keep the pets they have can slow the stray issue to something the local shelters/rescues can deal with. Pet supply stores, dog parks, groomers can all help you understand what the core issues are. (It's always money, but who needs it and how do you get it to them.)

Places like Facebook & Nextdoor can help you organize and get out the word on how to help. A lot of people want to help, but giving them actual easy actionable items (donate! show up this day for this thing, or help me find someone to adopt this critter).
posted by typetive at 1:53 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]


In Portland, there's lots of END PETLESSNESS signs.
posted by aniola at 2:07 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]


something here has to change.

I reiterate: volunteer. There are many nonprofits in desperate need of help in exactly this space. If you don't have time, give money.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 2:15 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]


2.) Check archives of your local news outlets for any stories about stray dogs in the last 3-5 years. Do they quote anyone? Call the person they quoted.

Also, has the local news been covering the issue, and the mauling? If not, you can try convincing them to start.
posted by trig at 11:26 PM on February 28, 2023


The number of cats and kittens in shelters here has reduced a lot in recent years. There are many reasons, but I think one of the main ones is that there is a _very well organized_ rescue organization with people who actually go out, into the field, when someone contacts them about a feral colony or some kittens. They have a whole "feral cat team" that brings in mother cats and kittens -- and the mothers are usually trapped in a different way than the kittens are -- spays the moms, traps and neuters males, and then treats everyone well enough that there's no reason to feel guilty or hesitant about asking for help.

Then the kittens are fostered and adopted, and the mom cats are sometimes fostered and adopted. The colonies have a free food supply. It's a huge effort, but it's about just giving the help that's needed rather than regulating or doing things to "control" anybody.

And the key is that there are one or two people who basically have given their lives and their homes to coordinating this -- mainly the feral cat effort -- and being there to help other volunteers. The trapped cats end up in one person's driveway or garage as a way station before going to a vet; somehow special little houses to shelter feral cats show up there and then are deployed; there are regular and very hospitable social events to keep everyone encouraged and engaged.

This is not to suggest you should do any specific thing here, and clearly stray dog issues aren't exactly the same as feral cat and kitten issues, but: all this work, it did add up to substantial change.
posted by amtho at 11:59 PM on February 28, 2023


I've talked to people who care for stray animals in a country with a serious dog problem and the intervention they saw as the most effective was a combination of spay/neuter/vaccinate with visible tagging (earrings) that told people these animals were safe. This way the stray population doesn't perpetuate and multiply, while at the same time people feel safe to feed and befriend and adopt the tagged dogs without fear of rabies and other diseases. Might be worth a look, as well as researching other best practices and advocating for them at the local level.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 11:18 AM on March 1, 2023


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