AWLA Hawk

This year in Brooklyn, NY, a pit-bull named Oreo was thrown off the roof of a six-story apartment building by an abusive owner. Badly hurt, Oreo was turned over to the ASPCA and nursed back to health.

But Oreo started to show signs of aggression as she recovered, so the ASPCA decided to euthanize her. When an article in the New York Times described Oreo’s impending fate, an animal sanctuary with experience rehabilitating aggressive dogs offered to care for Oreo and provide her with a guaranteed home for life, with plenty of socialization and outdoor walks until she was ultimately adopted. The ASPCA denied the request and euthanized Oreo instead.

Partly in response to the outrage among animal lovers triggered by Oreo’s story, a bill that has been dubbed Oreo’s Law was introduced last month for consideration by the New York state legislature. It states that:

“Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, no animal in the care or custody of a duly incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, a duly incorporated humane society, or a pound or shelter maintained by or under contract or agreement with the state or any county, city, town or village, or authorized agents thereof, shall be destroyed if, prior to the killing of that animal for any reason other than irremediable physical suffering of the animal, a nonprofit, as defined in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, animal rescue or adoption organization requests possession of the animal.”

It’s hard for me to understand how anyone in the animal-welfare community can make a coherent argument against this provision. If a reputable rescue organization (and only approved organizations will be allowed to participate), wants to adopt and rehabilitate an animal that a shelter has decided to euthanize, the shelter should be thrilled to offer the animal a second chance.

Arlington is a small, affluent county without a dog-fighting culture, so it’s highly unlikely that the homeless dogs entrusted to AWLA are as physically abused and emotionally scarred as the pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick’s compound. When the Vick dogs were seized, the Humane Society of the US recommended to federal prosecutors that all of them be euthanized, sight unseen.

Instead the government was persuaded to have the dogs individually evaluated over the course of a week by a committee of experts from several rescue organizations.

Of the 51 dogs, the rescue volunteers concluded that only one was too aggressive to be rehabilitated. The rest were turned over to a consortium of rescue groups and distributed to foster homes and sanctuaries. You can follow some of their stories here.

If 50 of the 51 Vick dogs deserved a chance at rehabilitation, AWLA should aim for a similar percentage for its dogs and cats. Abiding by Oreo’s Law would be a great way to start.

1. Notify approved local rescue organizations before euthanizing a healthy or treatable companion animal.
(See the Asilomar Accords for the definition of treatable.)

2. Give the rescue organizations an opportunity to offer the animal a second chance.

AWLA doesn’t have to wait for Oreo’s Law to be passed in Arlington. They can start following it right now.