"Animal Planet Heroes Phoenix is an exciting drama that showcases the
lifesaving work of the Arizona Humane Society's specially trained Emergency
Animal Medical TechniciansT. Before the first rescue was caught on tape,
however, more than a year of work on the series had already been done behind
the scenes."

I have to wonder how many times the AHS will toot their own horn? Perhaps
Animal Planet should have looked at the no-kill shelters first. No-kill
shelters definately deserve more consideration for a show than the AHS. Why
is it that Animal Planet insists on doing these shows that actually cover
shelters that are known to euthanize animals? I think groups like AzCATs,
Animal Welfare League, Sun Valley Animal Shelter, etc deserve to be seen a
hell of a lot more.

It's time Animal Planet start showing the true unsung heroes out there for
these types of shows. As much as I have enjoyed Animal Cops I still feel
that no-kill shelters deserve more consideration. Apparently rescuing a cat
from the euthanasia list of known kill shelters is not as exciting to Animal
Planet. AzCATs for example does TNR of feral cats in the Phoenix area but
yet don't get the credit they deserve for the work they do. I guess rescuing
and trapping feral cats is not exciting because apparently you have to have
a big budget and have a reputation for euthanizing in order to make it on
Animal Planet.

Yes, these are my opinions but I think it is time for the no-kill shelters
and rescue organizations to get the credit they deserve. They also deserve
to get donations as well. Yes, during the Katrina disaster I donated to the
ASPCA which is not no-kill but I also donated to Alley Cat Allies. ACA which
is the national organization for feral cats hardly has the budget the ASPCA
does but also does not have the budget the AHS does.

According to one site charitynavigator.org which lists non-profit budgets
and also salaries of the CEO's shows that the head of the AHS Cheryl Naumann
makes over a $161,026 a year as her salary while the head of Alley Cat
Allies Donna Wilcox makes only $58,710 per year.  Alley Cat also doesn't
have the enormous budget that the Humane Society has but there is still
something very wrong with this picture. Heck even the head of the Arizona
Animal Welfare League which states they are the largest and oldest no-kill
shelter in the state of Arizona doesn't have the budget the AHS has. The
head of that organization Betty Welton only makes $65,880 a year as salary.

I think this pattern shows that unless you have the money, Animal Planet and
other media outlets are not as interested in your story. It is about time
this changes. No-kills work just as hard and seem to get very little credit
or nods from the media. Every year the AHS has a telethon on one of the
local TV channels (ABC 15 I believe) to raise money and also gets their own
show on Channel 3. Do the no-kill organizations get the same consideration?
Heck no. The no-kills are lucky they get a small mention in the newspaper
let alone a major fundraiser.

I think no-kills are the unsung heroes of the rescue community. They take in
many animals in the hopes they get adopted and also are willing to work with
the more difficult cases. I remember rescuing one cat who was apparently
abused and had a very piss poor attitude. He took swipes and hit and spit.
Luckily I contacted Sun Valley Animal Shelter in Glendale who worked with
this cat and eventually fully rehabilitated him and got him placed in loving
home. It took two tries to get the right placement but he still did. If he
had gotten placed in a shelter known for euthanasia I don't think he'd be
alive today. Feral cats also face a lot of doom when it comes to shelters
known to euthanize.

I challenge the media to finally start covering and lending support to
no-kills. These organizations work just as tirelessly to rescue animals as
well as getting them placed. I applaud the efforts of organizations like
AzCATs which are starting to get a little more support for their efforts
(they host a show every Sunday on one of the local AM stations here in
Phoenix which deals with animals. It's called The Animal World and can be
heard on KKNT 960AM radio and KTIE 590AM  radio in Los Angeles) but the
press still seems to shy away from covering feral cat issues.

Wake up Animal Planet. It's time to start covering the no-kills. They may
not have the budget but their work deserves some credit.

BTW, if there are fans of AHS on this group, I will say that some of their
programs are not all bad. To AHS's credit they do have a low-cost spay
neuter program which has better rates for shots and a few other services
than the vets do. Of course the vet for my cats is a little more (a few
dollars more) which I gladly pay now instead of going halfway across town to
the AHS to get them. Pets on Parade which is hosted by the Humane Society on
Channel 3 is also not bad either. They show animals up for adoption and also
have a few other bits of info about animal care and a few interesting
stories as well. I just wish that the AHS goes no-kill. They certainly have
the budget and support for it.