New Animal Control.Org

This page is part of New Animal Control.Org

About This Website

Dear Reader:

New Animal Control.Org just went online for the first time in September of 2005, and is still under construction.

When this website is complete, you will find here a workable action plan designed to set in motion the process of dramatically reforming the current animal control system which has created and now perpetuates all of our major dog-related problems.

Of course, the conventional wisdom says that it can't be done. The old timers all say that the established methodologies of canine management are too entrenched, and the powers that be are too strong and too beholden to special interests for the politicos to ever allow the animal control system to change. However, there is reason to believe that a small group of activists can, in fact, force the adoption of new methods of dog management.

We who are the first few adherents to this movement, find ourselves faced with two choices. We can personally beseech our political representatives to change the animal control system, or we can take our case to the masses who will benefit so profoundly from the implementation of a new system, and then, prompt them to demand change from their local leaders.

As a man who has spent his adult life in public office, Willie Brown of California (USA) has a profound grasp of how the political process works. Asked in a televised interview, why the animal control system is so extremely resistant to change, Brown replied with words to this effect: What activists never seem to understand is that the political system does not respond to logic. Rather, it responds to photo opportunities. So you can argue all day long, giving facts to support your contention that your way of doing things is better, but it won't make a bit of difference, because politicians don't adopt new policies based on logic. Rather, they jump on the bandwagon only when it is clear that doing so will increase their political capital, and move them ahead in the popularity polls. Unless, of course, you make a sizeable donation to their campaign fund.

That being the case, we few cannot hope to transform the animal control system by attempting to reason with politicians who are more readily persuaded by the self-interested arguments of corporate lobbyists. Sadly, the deep pockets of industry hold an allure for our elected representatives that far surpasses any logical presentation or appeal to reason that we could hope to put forth.

That being the case, clearly change will have to come from the bottom up, as we mobilize en masse and drive our so called "leaders" before us.

The fact is that all of our major dog-related problems are solvable. They only exist because the current animal control system perpetuates them. The truth is that, by implementing the the new system, we could increase privileges for responsible dog owners, bring our biting and barking epidemics to a screeching halt, slash the rate of canine euthanasia, and greatly improve the quality of life for dogs everywhere while, in the process, cleansing the environment and achieving spectacular savings.

When enough people become aware of the advantages of the new system, they will demand change.

The key to forcing the reform of the animal control system, then, is to find a practical, pro-social way to agitate for reform, one that is so charming and irresistably engaging that the media will feel compelled to cover it time after time. The resulting media attention should then provide us with a bully pulpit from which to broadcast the message that a plan has been developed for a new, higly effective animal control system, one that offers universal advantages over the old, failed system that is currently in place.

Craig Mixon, Ed.D.


This page is part of New Animal Control.Org