Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America

Exposes Annual Killing of 4.1 million Cats and Dogs as Unnecessary, Offers Lifesaving Blueprint (Los Angeles) Almaden Books is proud to announce the September 1, 2007 release of Nathan Winograd’s groundbreaking book, Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America.

Winograd, an attorney turned animal sheltering-guru whose work has been featured in Reader’s Digest,

USA Today, Metropolitan Home, the Washington Post, and in local newspapers, radio and television around the country, has written the definitive book on animal sheltering in the United States, offering the formulato end the killing of up to 5 million homeless dogs and cats who enter U.S. shelters every year.

Redemption tells the story of animal sheltering in the United States – a movement that was born of compassion and then lost its way,” explains Winograd, “But there is hope.  Over the last decade, the success of the No Kill movement’s revolutionary approach to animal sheltering has proven that there is a blueprint to end the killing, and that it is incumbent upon animal lovers nationwide to ensure that they are implemented in every shelter in our country.” The title is receiving critical acclaim from animal lovers and book reviewers from coast to coast, including:

“Millions of healthy and adoptable dogs and cats are put to death in animal shelters every year. That their deaths are unnecessary is the premise of Winograd's unique and important book, which establishes a blueprint for the creation of no-kill shelters.”

Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal.

“Powerful and inspirational... [this book will] have a truly transformative effect.” – Taimie Bryant,

UCLA Professor of Law and Author of the 1998 California Animal Shelter Law. “For anyone who has ever loved an animal, this book, like no other non-fiction, takes you through the full spectrum of emotions: from sadness to anger, from fear to hope… This book deserves your immediate attention and our beloved animals deserve your immediate action.” – Lee Rayburn, Air America Radio.

Winograd will begin a 16-city national book tour on September 1 in Ithaca, NY, where, as Executive Director for the Tompkins County SPCA from 2001-2004, he created the nation’s first No Kill community, saving all healthy and treatable homeless animals. Each event on the tour will include an hour long multi-media presentation entitled “Building a No Kill Community,” followed by a book signing.

For those who cannot attend, Redemption will be available for sale at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon and other fine booksellers in September 2007.

For more information, including a book tour schedule, print quality images of the cover and author, and other background, author biography, and marketing material, go to www.nathanwinograd.com and click on “Media.”

Bonney Brown, Executive Director, Nevada Humane Society.

Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America uncovers an “industry’s” dirty little secret—that the killing of five million dogs and cats in U.S. animal shelters is largely unnecessary. Indeed, shelter killing is believed to be the leading cause of death for healthy dogs and cats in the United States. The numbers killed are staggering. And for far too long, Americans have been led to believe that there is no other way. That killing is, in fact, an act of kindness for homeless or unwanted pets. But, in fact, killing is neither kind nor necessary, nor will it prevent animal suffering. It is population control killing that itself is the root cause of animal suffering in our nation's animal control shelters.

“Today, most Americans hold the humane treatment of animals as a personal value, which is reflected in our laws, cultural practices, the proliferation of organizations founded for animal protection, increased per capita spending on animal care, and great advancements in veterinary medicine,” says Winograd. “There are over 70 million pet dogs and 90 million pet cats in the United States, and their owners are collectively spending 38 billion dollars a year. But the agencies that the public expects to protect homeless animals are instead killing more than five million animals annually.”

How did this happen? How did the very charities founded on the highest ideals of compassion become the nation’s leading killers of dogs and cats? And why does the pet loving American public, the very same people who talk to their pets and celebrate their birthdays, not only accept it but continue to foot the bill through taxes and voluntary donations? And, more importantly, what can be done about it?

“There is another way,” says Winograd. The movement to end the killing began in San Francisco in 1994, spread eastward to Tompkins County, New York which in 2002 became the first No Kill community in the U.S., and is now spreading elsewhere. Charlottesville, Virginia is the latest community to embrace the No Kill philosophy, saving 92% of homeless dogs and cats, when many communities are killing the same percentage. “Come to a seminar and book signing and find out how to end the killing in your community,” he says.


About the Author

“Bow-Wow! This extraordinary pet-loving former attorney is out to make the world safe for homeless animals – one region at a time.”

- Metropolitan Home, Best of the Best

Nathan J. Winograd is the Director of the national No Kill Advocacy Center. He is a graduate of Stanford Law School, a former criminal prosecutor and corporate attorney, was director of operations for the San Francisco SPCA and executive director of the Tompkins County SPCA, two of the most successful shelters in the nation. He has spoken nationally and internationally on animal sheltering issues, has written animal protection legislation at the state and national level, has created successful No Kill programs in both urban and rural communities, and has consulted with a wide range of local and national animal protection groups. His work has been featured in widely read publications such as Reader's Digest and USA

Today, industry publications like Animal People, Cat Fancy, and Best Friends, and newspapers from all over the country. His creation of the nation's first No Kill community was named one of the Top 100 achievements in the United States by Metropolitan Home in its 2005 "Best of the Best" issue. As a nationally recognized speaker, Nathan has spoken at national animal welfare conferences from coast to coast. He has spoken internationally as well, as a guest of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and has been invited to be a featured speaker in Australia, Ireland, and the Czech Republic. He has also lectured on animal sheltering ethics to students at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine, and at the U.C.L.A. School of Law on animal law issues.

For More Information:

For more information, including print quality images of the cover and author, and other background, author biography, and marketing material, go to www.nathanwinograd.com and click on “Media.”