No-kill advocate Winograd rebukes Alabama State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners rep for citing his work out of context

“Any claim that such clinics are either unnecessary or should be restricted based on my work is categorically false.”

MONTGOMERY––Acting as judge during an Alabama State Board of Veterinary Licensing hearing on charges brought against Alabama Spay/Neuter Clinic founder William B. Weber,  board member Sam J. Eidt,  DVM on April 29,  2014 reportedly cited No Kill Advocacy Center founder Nathan Winograd’s 2007 book Redemption.

Eidt reportedly recommended that audience members should read Redemption while cross-examining expert witness Philip Bushby.  Bushby teaches spay/neuter technique and is professor of humane ethics and animal welfare at the Mississippi State University college of veterinary medicine,

“Witnesses say Eidt challenged Bushby about animal overpopulation,”  wrote Alabama Media Group blogger Joey Kennedy,  “claiming there are many people who disagree that overpopulation even exists. Eidt said shelters simply don’t do a good enough job of adopting out animals.”

Winograd has often been at odds with much of the humane community,  including ANIMALS 24-7,  for arguing that improved adoption promotion could rehome most of the three million animals per year who have been killed in recent years in U.S. animal shelters.

But Winograd lost no time in setting the record straight about his perspective on high-volume,  low-cost spay/neuter.

Addressing the Alabama State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners through president Robert E. Pitman,  DVM,  Winograd responded overnight,  “Any claim that such clinics are either unnecessary or should be restricted based on my work is categorically false.  In fact,  not only am I and my organization committed to the promotion of such services,  when I ran shelters,  we performed many such surgeries,  as they were key to our lifesaving success.  In one of those shelters,”  the San Francisco SPCA,  “we did roughly 10,000 low-cost surgeries a year,  84% of which were free.  None of the community’s veterinarians objected to this service.  Indeed, as animal lovers who understood that we were serving people who could not afford their services, they welcomed it.  The end result was not only one of the highest save rates in the nation,”  Winograd summarized,  “but also the lowest intake rate of an urban city in the U.S.,  a fraction of the national average and over 30 times less than many communities.

Concluded Winograd,  “Low-cost, high-volume spaying and neutering helps to decrease the number of animals entering shelters who would face an unnecessary and untimely death. Such programs are therefore essential to saving lives and should be encouraged and supported.”

  (See also Review:  Redemption,  by Nathan Winograd;  Why we cannot adopt our way out of shelter killing;  Veterinary protectionism rises again in Alabama;  and Humane community stops Alabama vets from blocking low-cost s/n.)

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