Thoughts on the News: Declawing Banned in NY & Humane Alliance and St. Hubert’s Merge

The last couple of weeks of July were very busy in the animal welfare world. Best Friends Animal Society had one of their biggest conferences, Alley Cat Allies had a big event in Texas, and Brandon Zavala put on a new event, the Silicat Valley Cat Convention, in San Jose, CA. It seems as if the conference season is now busier than ever. I do have to wonder how we can make time for ourselves, the conferences, and the incredible intensity of the summer season. But it seems like people are able to make time to go to these conferences.

In addition to all of these events, the big news out of New York is that declawing is now illegal in the state, effective immediately. This is fantastic news and hopefully more states will follow. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the folks at The Paw Project for helping make this happen. Their website is dedicated to helping other states submit legislation to make declawing illegal. Massachusetts may be next, and let’s hope more state pass this important legislation. If you’re in Massachusetts, learn about how you can help.

The merger of Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA) and St. Hubert’s is also very interesting news. HRA is led by the visionary leader Lisa LaFontaine and it appears that she will be running the show at the newly merged organization. St. Hubert’s is known for its way station program, which provides a link between the south and the north in transporting cats and dogs, making St. Hubert’s a key part of the pipeline of animal movement along the eastern seaboard. HRA may also become another way station to the south too. It is my understanding that transport laws only allow so many hours a day of driving with animals, and moving animals up from Florida may require an earlier stop than New Jersey. I am certainly not an expert on animal transport, but my guess is that HRA wants to know more about the magical movement of animals and to help with this on the east coast at least.

I believe that the idea of transfer way stations is a very good one that will help us better manage cats and dogs needing homes around the county over the next ten years. After that I am not sure where we go.  But I do see the need for way stations all around the country. It would be interesting to develop a national strategy around this concept. Texas and California still seem to have the highest overpopulation issues going on according to data found on Shelter Animals Count site. So if we can create a dozen of these way station super hubs around the country, it might not be a bad thing!

I am wondering how many more mergers we may see in the future? Has your organization ever merged with another or considered doing it?

You can read more about the HRA-St. Hubert’s merger here. You can also listen to my two-part podcast interview with St. Hubert’s CEO Heather Cammisa in Episodes 159 and 160. In Episode 25, I interviewed Scott Giacoppo, who was at the time the Chief Community Animal Welfare Officer at Washington (DC) Humane Society, which later went on to merge with the Washington Animal Rescue League to form the Humane Rescue Alliance. I also interviewed Erin Robinson, Community Cats Program Manager at Humane Rescue Alliance in Episode 260. Feel free to catch up on these shows.

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