Corruption – Page 2 – Nathan J. Winograd

Ching, Baldwin & The Cult of Personality

By Nathan J. Winograd | August 12, 2020July 24, 2022 by Nathan J. Winograd

Back in May, the Los Angeles Times published an expose that Marc Ching, a well-known and until then beloved “animal activist” allegedly fighting cruelty in the Indonesian dog meat industry, was a fraud. It provided evidence that Ching, who spent nearly a decade in prison for a violent crime before joining the movement, staged videos of dogs being killed, including blowtorched alive, for personal gain. Recently, the L.A. Times published a follow-up with evidence that…

Salt Lake County Animal Services Tells Finder to Abandon Blind, Sick, Pregnant Cat Found Walking in Circles

By Nathan J. Winograd | July 15, 2020July 15, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

Although they deny it, Austin Animal Center (in Texas) has been telling people to release stray dogs where they are found because they are not taking them in. When it was caught on video and made public, the pound director claimed it was a misunderstanding and issued a statement that he was “disappointed” in staff. But the staff member seen in the video telling the Good Samaritan with the young dog to “let her go…

Articles Corruption COVID-19

Austin Shelter Director Proposal to Close Doors to Healthy Strays Permanently is D.O.A.

By Nathan J. Winograd | June 22, 2020February 11, 2022 by Nathan J. Winograd

The pandemic has revealed both the tremendous progress we have made in animal sheltering practices and exposed some alarming deficiencies. Many communities rose to the challenge by embracing ingenuity, a “can do” attitude, and technology to save the animals, and, as a result, “placed record numbers of dogs, cats and other animals.” Others turned their backs on animals by closing their doors. The former includes communities like Rosenberg, TX, which continued operating as an essential…

Articles Corruption COVID-19

When “Community Sheltering” Means No Sheltering

By Nathan J. Winograd | June 19, 2020June 25, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

We’ve made tremendous progress as a movement, but not only is there still a long way to go, some communities are moving in the wrong direction. The Solano County Grand Jury recently issued a report recently after doing an inspection of the county shelter. Jurors found “evidence of rodent infestation with rat/mouse droppings in the living environment of the confined animals. In addition, the majority of the cages of the confined stray dogs were so…

Articles Corruption

L.A. Times: Animal charity run by con staged abuse of dogs

By Nathan J. Winograd | May 29, 2020May 30, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

(Warning: Graphic description of a dog being killed.) There are things you see that you cannot unsee. The video of a dog being hanged and burned alive in Indonesia, appeared multiple times on my Twitter feed some time back. Because of it, I stopped looking at my feed. I haven’t since. I go on to Twitter via my profile page to post. Although it’s been years since I saw it, I still think about it…

Articles Corruption COVID-19

Maddie’s Fund: Fearmongering about COVID-19

By Nathan J. Winograd | April 8, 2020May 17, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

Maddie’s Fund and several of its partner organizations are fearmongering about the pandemic by recommending separating pets from people and other animals if those animals come from a household where people tested positive for COVID-19. They also note that, “If the pet is brought to a shelter, they should be kept away from the general population for 14 days.” In a regressive pound, this amounts to a death sentence. In homes where isolating the pet…

Articles Corruption

NYS Bill Would Expand Reasons to Kill

By Nathan J. Winograd | April 3, 2020April 3, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

Legislation has been introduced in New York that creates a new reason to kill: “mental suffering.” As I explain to the NYS senators who will be debating this bill, there is no definition of what constitutes “mental suffering” and no standards to how it will be applied, allowing pounds to kill animals based on the animals’ perceived state of mind. All animals can experience stress on entry to a pound. Many of these animals are…

Articles Corruption

Pueblo Councilmember’s Conduct Both Shameful & Dangerous

By Nathan J. Winograd | January 21, 2020March 23, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

I recently received a letter from a law firm, on behalf of a Pueblo, CO, City Councilmember. The letter accused me of making “false and defamatory statements” about the Councilmember and threatening me with litigation for articles I wrote challenging her op-ed in the local newspaper in which she defended the killing of animals at the Pueblo pound by hiding behind PETA’s anti-No Kill rhetoric. My articles were not just accurate; they are politically protected…

Articles ASPCA Corruption

Maddie’s Fund: Making sure “shelters” that kill “don’t look bad” more important than stopping them from killing

By Nathan J. Winograd | December 13, 2019March 23, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

2019 was a pretty terrific year for the No Kill movement and next week, I’ll share some of the top stories, new studies, groundbreaking court cases, and more that not only helped fuel its success, but are laying the founding for our forward push towards a certain, and hopefully not too distant, victory. To paraphrase the No Kill Advocacy Center, a No Kill nation is truly within our reach. But it was not without its…

Articles Corruption

The Killing of Mr. Pickles

By Nathan J. Winograd | December 5, 2019March 23, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

On November 23, Mr. Pickles was surrendered by his family to the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care & Control (LACDACC). Although initially scared, Mr. Pickles turned out to be very sweet, rubbing up against the bars of his cage when volunteers or staff walked by and calling out to them with a soft meow. He was so pliable, in fact, a volunteer put Mr. Potato Head glasses on him, caressed his beautiful orange…