Brown & Bonded: We Should Always Get to the Yes

Author’s Note: As an animal welfare advocate, particularly a No Kill animal sheltering advocate, I’ve written about a number of topics I consider “difficult.”  Talking about issues related to race and discrimination makes me feel like an impostor; my goal is to be an ally.  I am not a member of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) community. It would be totally inappropriate for me to behave as if I fully understand members of that community or their experiences. I have not walked in their shoes and I simply cannot. Writing this blog has been a challenge for me as I search for words to articulate how I feel. I will do my best and hope you will focus less on me finding the perfect words and more on what I hope to share with you.

I recently had the privilege of viewing the advanced version of an upcoming documentary about the animal shelter, animal welfare and animal rescue industry called "Brown & Bonded," a production of CARE (Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity).  CARE CEO James Evans (who directed the film) shared the following about the film on the CARE website:

Being anything other than 'white' within the United States adds an unnecessary burden to life. Seeking pet companionship doesn’t prevent people of color from experiencing this hardship, as many assume it would. Despite the exhaustive challenges we face, including repeating historic injustices presently, we remain bonded with our communities, friends, and families. . .including our pets. . .Our film follows people of color who have formed deep bonds with their pets despite the challenges and obstacles they face in the pet adoption process and within Animal Welfare more broadly. Viewers will witness the struggles faced by marginalized Black and Brown communities, from remote Indigenous communities to under resourced urban Atlanta. Despite limited resources and safety nets individual pet parents face, the film highlights the power of these Brown & Bonded relationships that transcend for love’s sake.

Every day, people around the world are demonstrating compassion for companion animals. These individuals may be elderly, home insecure, or not fit the traditional Hollywood hero image. The animals being rescued, fed, and healed know help comes in different shapes and sizes. They know love cannot be seen from the outside. My enduring hope is that we learn to be as humane as our pets."

Amen to that.

As I told James in a recent call, this is one of the most consequential films I have seen in my entire life. Let me say that again for emphasis. Brown & Bonded is one of the most consequential films I have seen in my entire life. It is brilliant. It is shocking. It is joyful. It is uplifting. It is hard to watch. And it should be a game changer in our society. It is my genuine hope that millions of people will be exposed to the film and that elected officials, community stakeholders, animal shelter leadership and those in the animal rescue community examine what is happening in their own communities and take a long, hard look at their own behavior related to helping and serving the BIPOC community.

It is no secret that many in the animal sheltering industry and animal rescue community assert they want to help animals while making their loathing for people painfully obvious, something about which I have blogged many times. This comes as no surprise when we consider the decades during which most shelters have blamed “the irresponsible public” for the fact that the lives of shelter animals are ended as a population control measure while completely ignoring the fact that that the same public is vital to reducing shelter intake, getting animals adopted, fostering animals, volunteering and donating. In communities that no longer end the lives of healthy and treatable shelter animals that is not because all the irresponsible people moved away and were replaced by “better” or “more responsible people.” It is because the tax-funded animal shelter changed the culture from one of killing animals to saving animals while inviting the public  - all of the public - to be part of something bigger than themselves.

It is also no secret that discrimination runs rampant in our country. We like to think we have evolved as a society. But have we really?  The Declaration of Independence says that all men are created equal, but no one would claim all people are treated equally. We need only make a modest effort to keep up with national and local news to know that much progress made in the last few decades for which people struggled and died has been lost; we now live in a time when people who once hid their racism and bias have been empowered to put it on full display while claiming they support some patriotic cause or movement. It is our public shame.

This is why films like Brown & Bonded are so very, very important. Animal problems are people problems. When we help people, we help animals. When we help animals, we help people.  As former animal control officer Beunca Gainor said so eloquently in the film:

Animal rescue in my eyes is different to me because there’s so much more than just the animal. It includes the person. The community. The family. . . So when you’re rescuing in our community you’re rescuing not only pets but we’re rescuing people at the same time.”

There was a time a few decades ago when 16 to 17 million animals died in our nation’s animal shelters. That number is now less than 1 million animals a year. So consider these facts:

• A 3% increase in adoptions by people of color would save 2 million pets. 2 million.
• The animal welfare landscape is comprised on 83% white Americans (85% of whom are women) and 7% people of color.
• 25% of potential pet adopters felt they were unfairly treated based on their race or ethnicity (PetSmart Charities 2025 Racial Equity in Pet Acquisition study).
• Studies have shown people of color with pets face disproportionate impacts from animal welfare laws (Racial Disparities in Animal Welfare Exploration Study).

Jo-Ann Zoll, the CEO of the Providence Animal Center and Francis Vale Home for Smaller Animals, shared these thoughts in the film:

In thinking about racial disparities and the challenges people have in being welcomed to adopt pets I think it’s’ really imperative that we ask ourselves the questions about why not, We should always get to the yes. The yes is this person deserves the same experience that anyone else wants to have and may need more and difference support, but that’s what we’re here for. It’s how we treat people. It’s the care they receive while they’re here."

There are many issues in our society related to discrimination we may never fully come to terms with. Racism is deeply rooted in our society and the disparities we see in our country are not going away any time soon. The issue of inclusion and equity in interacting with the BIPOC community to save animals (while helping people) is something we all can and should focus on not next month or next year but right now. Today. We all benefit from animal companionship and we all want the lives of shelter animals saved no matter what we look like, where we live, what we do for a living, how much money we make or what kind of car we drive, if we even have a car. We can and should chose to break away from the racism that plagues our society for the sake of ourselves, the sake of our neighbors and the sake of the animals with whom we share our lives. This means having a focus on getting to "yes". How? We can start this way.

• We must remove barriers to adoption created by arbitrary criteria like having a fence, living in an apartment, how many hours the adopter works a day, the adopter's age and yes, the adopter's race. If you think people have not been turned away from adopting due to race, you are wrong. It happens each and ever day. We must also make animals more accessible to be reclaimed or adopted by having family-friendly shelter hours and not just hours when most people are at work. Many shelters are open so few hours a day it is almost impossible to reclaim a pet or adopt a pet. This doesn't necessarily mean more hours, it means different hours. 
• We must stop punishing and vilifying people whose pets end up in shelters due to no fault of their own and do all we can to get those animals back home quickly. Not every dog we see outside was abandoned; dogs get loose and accidents happen. If a dog found running at large enters a shelter, the focus should be on getting that dog home as quickly as possible and preventing the dog from entering the shelter again. We can help people keep dogs contained by providing run/trolley lines, reinforcing an existing fence, having the dog spayed/neutered/microchipped.
• If we are prepared to spend X amount of time and Y amount of money to interact with a person about an animal, cite that person, potentially fine that person (sometimes as the result of a court appearance) care for that animal in a shelter and either end the life of the animal or place that animal in a new home or with a rescue group, it makes much more sense to use that same time and those same resources to help the family and keep that animal in a home (or with a person) where they are loved and valued. 
• Shelters should waive reclaim fees for those who cannot pay them. If a dog has been in a shelter for a week, the reclaim fee can be hundreds of dollars which most people can't pay. It makes zero sense to make the fees so high the family cannot pay and then turn around and give that same animal to a rescue group for free. Even establishing a payment plan is a better way to function than holding people's pets for what amounts to a ransom fee.

Please take a couple of minutes out of your day to watch this trailer for Brown & Bonded, giving some thought to what is happening in your neighborhood, your community, your city, your county. I dream of a time when our neighbors in the BIPOC community are consistently valued, respected and treated with dignity. I dream of a time when we all bond through our shared love of animals and through those bonds we develop strong relationships that stand the test of time and endure through challenges. I dream of a time when all men and women are not just created equal, but actually treated that way. 

I will share more information about public release of the film when it becomes available.

(images and film trailer courtesy of CARE)