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Checking Boks 2007 statistical summary, he claims a 9% reduction in killing, about 4,200.
Because Died in Shelter from fighting and disease was up 650, the real reduction in death was 3,550.
How did he do this?
Kittens and Pit Bulls disappeared!
These are the cat and dog categories where the highest euthanasia rates occur.
According to the statistics, they just stopped coming into the shelter after April at anyway near historical records or trends.
Even while the overall impound numbers dropped only 1%,
neonatal kitten impounds dropped by 33%, the most incredible drop in the history of LAAS!
Pit Bull impounds dropped 16%, the most incredible drop in the history of LAAS!
Unweaned Pit Bulls dropped 22%, the most incredible drop in the history of LAAS!
These "disappeared" animals account for 92% of the decreased euthanasia numbers claimed by Boks.
What do I mean "disappeared?"
First, 2007 was a bumper kitten season. No other shelter system in the area claimed even a 5% drop in cat impounds. They don't break it down into kitten vs. adults so the comparison is not complete. Yet, Animal Services impounded 33% fewer, 2,400!
Either they were refused or they were taken to the back room and euthanized immediately, or possibly given over to rescues or the public before being impounded.
There is NO OTHER EXPLANATION. Boks does not even try to explain it, even though this is the beginning and end of his alleged success. Could it be that it rained kittens and pits all around Southern California but not in LA city itself? I think not..
The real world just doesn't work this way.
The same holds true for pit bulls and pit bull puppies.
92% of Boks success is not explained.
He says the foster program, but that only explains 2.5% of the decrease in killing.
He says increased adoptions, but adoptions were up by only 2.4%.
New Hope? New Hope adoptions were down 3.5%.
So why were kittens and pit bulls down an unprecedented number? Fate? Kismet? Chance?
Dogs impounds actually went up 7%.
Where did the kittens and pit bulls disappear to? Where did the 3,300 animals go?
Please tell us this Mr. Boks.
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I believe Boks turned some kittens into cats. He turned some pits into other breeds. This way it would look like he was successful with kittens and pits which are generally the ones most likely to be euthanized. Then he doesn't talk about the fact that more cats and other breeds came in. I've seen eyes closed kittens called two months old which makes them a cat. I've seen full pits called labs or shephards. It's all in the wrist.
ReplyDeleteAnother explanation is that dog drop off form found in South LA. It said "you realize your dog could be euthanized before four days." It was an owner requested euthanasia form in disguise. This way he didn't have to hold it for the Hayden act minimum number of days. He could then kill it and not count it. I know owner requested euth is not allowed in LA but Boks doesn't care. He will do it and just not count it. He controls the numbers so he can say and do anything he wants.
Go look at the dogs. I see full pits listed as american bulldog, pitbull terrier mix, pointer mix, dalmatian mix, labrador, american staffordshire terrier mix, am pit bull, boxer and pitbull terrier, bull terrier mix, beagle (I kid you not)...
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that if the dog isn't a full bred "pit bull" with AKC papers they will list it as another breed or a mix which is not a "pit bull." Volunteers used to do this so people would be more apt to adopt them but the real stats should be accurate. If we don't know what the problem is, how can we fix it.
Looking through the dog photos, there are a ton of pitbulls in the shelters. They have 8-10 pups per litter, their babies are hearty and people in bad areas like having cool pit guard dogs.
The second poster is either an idiot or psycho... oh, that's right... never mind...
ReplyDeleteIt's called shifting numbers. You turn puppies and kittens into cats and dogs. Then it looks like you saved puppies and kittens. You don't mention that cat and dog intake and euth went up. People care more about puppies and kittens.
ReplyDeletePitbulls were and still are an issue. You want to make it seem like you made progress with pitbulls. You call pitbulls shephards, beagles, staffordshire terriers...anything but pit bulls. Then it looks like you improved pitbulls. Boks doesn't mention other breeds so no one realizes that he just renamed them.
It's all smoke and mirrors. If he had a feral category,he'd be doing the same thing. He'd turn ferals into tame cats to make it seem that he improved ferals. People don't look at the numbers closely, except us, and Boks. Boks is the master manipulator.
I'm not sure why #3 thinks #2 is psycho. I'm not saying the numbers discrepancy is explained by it, but pit mixes ARE commonly mis-identified, either out of stupidity, or deliberately because a lot of potential adopters would be scared of adopting any dog that has pit in its makeup.
ReplyDeleteI've certainly met a lot of people who have no idea that pits are sweet dogs. To be truthful, before I met a bunch of them working at a private rescue, I was kind of wary of them too. And even at the rescue some dogs who I know are part or mostly pit aren't classified that way. I'm not generally in favor of concealing facts, but for a sweet dog to live its entire life in a shelter because of a word seems a legitimate excuse to me.
As I say, this in no way suggests that I don't think Boks is a sociopathic liar who would kill a pit as fast as he'd kill one of Mason's cats, or a two day-old kitten. Every word out of Boks is a lie, including "Hello."