The Underground Rainbow

12/11/2025

Great Information!

12/09/2025

Who is Nathan Winograd?

The Underground Rainbow has constantly referenced and shared the research, recommendations, and incredible protocols by the No Kill Advocacy Center. The No Kill Equation is the shelter model that our organization believes should be standardized nationally.

We realized that some of you may not know why we support the No Kill Advocacy Center and the No Kill Equation, and who Nathan Winograd is. This post will provide you with more knowledge on Nathan Winograd and why he is an expert in the animal welfare community, specifically the No Kill community.

Nathan Winograd is the founder and executive director of the No Kill Advocacy Center. He established the non-profit organization in 2004 in Oakland, California, with the goal of ending the killing of healthy and treatable animals in shelters nationwide.
Nathan Winograd not only a former criminal prosecutor known by his colleagues as the “Dog DA” for his forceful prosecution of animal cruelty cases, but is also a former humane officer, Director of Operations for the most successful private shelter in the country, the director of what was then the most successful open admission No Kill shelter in the country and the first true No Kill community, and chief of animal control. Today, he is the Director of the No Kill Advocacy Center, focusing on shelter reform through direct assistance to shelters and rescuers, as well as political advocacy, litigation, and legislation. He has written four books on animal sheltering, a vegan cookbook, a book of animal rights philosophy, and have produced a No Kill documentary. As an attorney, he files lawsuits to protect animals and defend rescuers. He is considered a leading figure in the no-kill movement. He is known for developing the "No Kill Equation," a model that uses a set of programs and services (such as foster care networks, high-volume adoptions, and TNR (trap-neuter-return) for community cats) to save over 90% of animals entering a shelter.
By all accounts Nathan Winograd is an expert in the animal welfare community, specifically the No Kill community.
If you would like more information on Nathan Winograd, you can visit his website: nathanwinograd.org

12/08/2025

Hello everyone!
We value your thoughts and opinions at The Underground Rainbow! Your feedback is incredibly important to us as we strive to create content that resonates with all of you and provides valuable information. Today, we're reaching out to ask for your input on the topics that we post about.
What topics do you find most interesting or engaging? Is there a particular subject you'd like us to cover more often? Do you have any suggestions for new topics that you'd like to see us explore?
We want to hear from you! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better suit your interests and preferences. Please comment below to provide this instrumental feedback. Feel free to drop your suggestions and ideas in the comments as well. Your input is invaluable to us, and we can't wait to hear what you have to say!
Thank you for being a part of our community and for helping us make it even better with your input. Together, we can create content that truly resonates with all of you!

12/07/2025

A Historical Perspective on PETA

Official records from Virginia’s Department of Agriculture show that PETA’s animal shelter in Norfolk kills 95 percent of animals entrusted to its care, and finds adoptive homes for less than 1 percent. Is this ethical?

12/06/2025

Watch Redemption
https://youtu.be/UzKrVYbQ3UE?si=2iTsKg40bo_IFrC0

12/05/2025

🚨 SOS: Website Wizard Needed!🚨

The Underground Rainbow is in desperate need of a heroic volunteer with actual web-building skills. Our current site was created by a very well-meaning humans… who had exactly zero website experience. (Think: duct tape, hope, and a dream.)

While it technically exists, it functions about as well as cat herding in a swimming pool. 🐱💨

If you’re someone who loves animals, knows your way around website creation, and wouldn’t mind helping us turn our digital “oops” into something functional, friendly, and fabulous — we want YOU!

✨ Bonus points if you enjoy saving the world one pixel at a time.
✨ Payment includes infinite gratitude, good karma, and virtual high-fives.

Interested? Message us! The animals are counting on us… and so is our website. 🐶❤️🐾

12/04/2025

We wanted to share this Substack publication as it is great food for thought.

How important is animal shelter work experience for a shelter director?
Hint: It's not the most important thing
Eileen McFall
Nov 24, 2025

Municipal shelters are often housed within law enforcement—the police or sheriff’s department, and many shelter directors come from a policing background, which often includes a bias toward killing in the name of public safety. Even when the animal services department reports to an Assistant City Manager, as in Austin, Texas, there’s typically no special expertise with animals or sheltering outside of that department. So animal shelter management experience and expertise are critical for an animal control and shelter director, right?

Not necessarily.

Toward Life-affirming Animal Sheltering is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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Because animal control and sheltering are so deeply rooted in the paradigm of killing for population management, experience in such an environment can be a major obstacle to life-affirming sheltering. If “euthanasia” is always an option, that possibility can be a barrier to creativity, to finding other safe, humane options for helping animals.

But lack of experience is a problem, too, right? If you have a director with management experience but no animal sheltering experience, they can be vulnerable to taking advice from experienced employees who themselves come from the conventional paradigm of population management by killing the excess.

There is a need for shelter management education within a life-affirming paradigm. I started such a program within the continuing education department of University of the Pacific when I worked there back in 2014, and at first it was called the No Kill Shelter Management Certificate Program. But within a few years, the “No Kill” was dropped from the program name, and the program has gone on to produce some of the worst offenders against No Kill sheltering while protecting and enhancing the careers of those who join its network.

So what’s the answer? At this point, I think the most important qualifications for a shelter director in a community that wants a life-affirming shelter are:

A life-affirming, or No Kill, mental model: the belief that every animal deserves life, safety, and quality of life, and that the job of the Animal Services department is to ask: “How can we help this animal?” (If the question is, “Can we help this animal?” the answer will too easily be “No.”)

A combination of management and metacognitive skills to run the department effectively, to seek out expertise and keep learning, and to evaluate the quality and underlying values behind advice, critiques, and proposals.

A thick skin and recognition that public service in a democracy comes with criticism, justified and not, and that silencing and punishing critics is counterproductive.

What do you think? Please join the discussion!

Hint: It's not the most important thing

12/03/2025

🎄🐾 As we get closer to Christmas, let's take a moment to consider a few important things:

🐶 Puppies turn into dogs, so let's remember to adopt responsibly and not impulsively. Providing those in need with a forever home is crucial, and we should never give up when things get difficult.

🏡 Adopting a dog from a local shelter or rescue can save a life and make an immense difference to the dog you bring home. Let's also consider the time commitment needed when bringing a puppy or dog into our homes.

📜 When adopting a dog, please review the rule of 3. Remember, it takes time for a dog to acclimate to a new home and learn a new routine. If you have questions about this rule, please reach out to us.

🐾 When adopting a puppy, please consider the different stages of being a puppy. They won't be perfect right away and will require training, consistency, and love.

👵 Regardless of adopting a puppy or dog, please remember the type of care they will need in their older age. Resources exist in the community for families that hit a rough patch, so please reach out if you need a list of resources for medical or daily needs for pets.

🐱 When adopting kittens, please remember they can live up to 20 years while indoors. Again, let's remember to adopt responsibly and not impulsively. Make sure to seek advice and learn about different medical needs, accessories needed, and the time commitment involved.

💰Regardless of whether you are adopting a kitten, cat, puppy, or dog, please consider the financial responsibility that comes with this lifetime commitment. Medical emergencies happen, and animals require regular medical check-ups, so please take this into consideration. Once again, remember that the community has resources available for families that have hit a rough patch financially. Please consider reaching out for help with resources before rehoming or abandoning your fur babies.

🐾 As always, remember to microchip, vaccinate, spay, and neuter your pets!

Let's make a difference this Christmas season. Check the local shelters and rescues to change a life. 🐾❤️

12/02/2025

Spaying your female dog, also known as ovariohysterectomy, offers a range of benefits for both your pet and for you as a responsible dog owner. Here are some key advantages of spaying your dog:

1. Prevention of unwanted litters: Spaying your dog helps prevent unplanned pregnancies, reducing the number of homeless animals, the amount of dogs being killed in the shelter, and the burden on animal shelters.

2. Health benefits: Spaying your dog can help prevent various health issues. It eliminates the risk of pyometra, a life-threatening infection of the uterus, and reduces the risk of mammary tumors, especially if done before the first heat cycle. A female dog spayed before her first heat will have a near-zero chance of developing mammary cancer. Spaying also eliminates the risk of ovarian and uterine cancers.

3. Prevention of heat cycles: Female dogs go into heat approximately every six months, during which they may attract male dogs from a distance and exhibit behavioral changes. Spaying eliminates heat cycles, reducing stress for both the dog and the owner.

4. Reduced risk of roaming: Female dogs in heat may try to escape from home to seek a mate, increasing the risk of accidents, getting lost, or encountering other dangers. Spaying can help prevent this behavior and keep your dog safe.

5. Behavioral improvements: Spayed female dogs are less likely to exhibit certain behaviors associated with mating, such as restlessness, increased vocalization, and attracting male dogs to your property. This can lead to a calmer and more predictable temperament.

6. Longer lifespan: Spayed dogs may live longer, healthier lives. By reducing the risk of certain diseases and health issues, you can help ensure that your dog enjoys a higher quality of life for a longer time.

7. Cost-effective: While there is an initial cost associated with spaying your dog, it can be cost-effective in the long term. Preventing health issues and behavioral problems can save you money on veterinary bills and other expenses over your dog's lifetime.

Consult with your veterinarian to determine the best time to spay your dog based on factors such as breed, age, and overall health. Spaying is a common and routine procedure that can have numerous benefits for your dog's well-being and your peace of mind as a pet owner.

12/01/2025

⚠️‼️⚠️UPDATE-RECORDS WERE RECEIVED!!!! WARNING EXTREMELY GRAPHIC!!! EUTHANASIA PROCEDURE!⚠️‼️⚠️
We previously posted a video (linked below) of Nick Hobbs-Doyle, Shelter Operations Manager at SCRAPS, killing a kitten who did not seem to be actively dying or suffering. This video was obtained from SCRAPS CAM 17 Euthanasia Room from 6/12/25.
We have now received the full records received from SCRAPS and wanted to provide an update.
To recap, in the video, which was obtained via public records and shared with our organization, you see a small kitten inside a transfer cage and Nick Hobbs-Doyle, Shelter Operation Manager, with the kitten. As Nick walks around the room, you can see the kitten actively tracking Nick with its entire body, watching him. You can see the kitten is active, alert, and responsive. Then you see Nick take the kitten out of the transfer cage, inject it with what can be assumed to be euthanasia solution, and place the kitten back in the transfer cage to die.....alone.

A quick note, we have edited the Stray Animal Receipt to block out the personal information of the person who brought the kitten in.

The records we received document the following facts:
The Status History documents that the intake was completed 6/7/25 at 11:05am
The Intake receipt AKA Stray Animal Receipt was printed 6/7/25 at 11:10am
There was no bite history nor behavioral history documented
A “General Existing Animal Note” entered by staff regarding intake of the kitten were documented on 6/7/25 at 11:20am
There is no documentation in the Medical History Report (which is typically where an exam of an animal is documented)
The Euthanasia reason states "Irremediable Prognosis”
The Euthanasia Card, which was filled out by Nick Hobbs-Doyle, states 1. NO HOLD, 2. that the kitten was “struggling for breath”, and 3-5 are not filled out.
The Status History documents that Nick Hobbs-Doyle changed the status to “Euthanized” on 6/7/25 at 11:20am
Two Days later, 6/9/25 at 12:09pm, a “General Existing Animal Note” was entered by staff regarding being verbally told this kitten was “climbing on the finders shoulders and walking around like normal. States the kitten did have URI.” (To clarify, URI stands for Upper Respiratory Infection.)
Based on the kitten's activity during this video and the records we received, it has been confirmed this kitten was not actively dying or suffering. This kitten did not have an "irremediable prognosis”. This kitten was in the care of SCRAPS for a mere 15 minutes before Nick Hobbs-Doyle killed it. The kitten did not receive an intake exam, the Euthanasia card was not completely filled out by Hobbs-Doyle, nor was the kitten determined to be suffering from an "irremediable prognosis” by an actual veterinarian.

Based on these records, a few questions we had when we saw the video have now been answered via the public records we received.
Question: What was "wrong" with this kitten that warranted euthanasia?
Answer: Euthanasia was not warranted. This is backed by SCRAPS Employees in a statement made at the "No Kill Spokane" event on 8/2/25. All in attendance were explicitly advised during that event that "SCRAPS would NEVER euthanize a kitten for upper respiratory infection". They also claimed to not euthanize treatable or healthy pets.

Question:Which jurisdiction was the kitten impounded from?
Answer: Spokane Valley

Additional questions that remain unanswered are:
Who oversees Nick Hobbs-Doyle and his euthanasia decisions such as checks and balances?
Is this and has this been a common practice?
Why wasn’t the Euthanasia Card filled out correctly?
The questions on the form that are unanswered are:
Was this decision made by the Pathways Team
If no, they were to answer all other questions
Number 3. Are you observing agonal/gasping breathing? UNANSWERED
Number 4. Is the observed condition of this animal’s prognosis poor/guarded and holding this animal longer going to cause further suffering or be considered inhumane to hold at the facility longer? Explain observed condition. UNANSWERED
Number 5. Based on all of the information you have on this animal, what is the probability of this animal being well enough to wait several hours until it can be evaluated by a DVM, LVT, or Sr. Shelter Tech? UNANSWERED
Number 6. Does evidence exist that suggests this animal may have a communicable disease in which it is terminally suffering from? Do you have a positive test Parvo/Panluek? Are they undergoing treatment and declining? UNANSWERED but he circled “a communicable disease in which”

Please take notice that question number 5 on the Euthanasia Card, includes the people to be able to evaluate an animal as DVM, LVT, and Sr. Shelter Tech. It DOES NOT include the Shelter Operations Manager.
We would like to remind you that Nick Hobbs-Doyle previously stated “If the animal has the will to live, then they will survive the night”. Nick's comment was made after dismissing staff concerns for the upcoming kitten season in 2023.

To conclude we are appalled by the wrongful death of this kitten, killed by a SCRAPS employee. The video and the direct documentation via public records from SCRAPS confirm this. This is in direct violation of SCRAPS' contracts and its touted policies.
Who will hold Nick Hobbs-Doyle accountable? Who will hold SCRAPS accountable? Who will hold the Spokane County CEO and County Commissioners accountable? Will Spokane Valley City Council finally review their contract and hold SCRAPS accountable? These and many other questions remain unanswered.

Rest in Peace sweet kitten. You should not have been killed for having a highly treatable condition such as an upper respiratory infection.

Initial post with video- https://www.facebook.com/reel/1255997359188760

12/01/2025

There are many misconceptions and a lack of knowledge behind feline declawing. If you, or someone you know, is considering declawing a cat, please read this handout to learn about why you should say NO to declawing, and the human alternatives that are available.

WHAT IS DECLAWING?
Your cat’s claws are not equivalent to your toenails. By declawing them, you are not simply having their “nail” trimmed back, or even having just their “nail” removed. In fact, cats’ claws are closely adhered to a bone.

A declawing procedure is a serious surgery that requires anesthesia and hospitalization, and in this surgery, declawing involves amputating the entire last part of the 10 front toes. A comparison in humans would be cutting off a person’s finger at the last joint. The procedure and recovery are extremely painful, even with pain medication on board. With the true description of declawing, it is clear why it’s viewed as inhumane, and why it is banned in several cities in the United States and in 42+ countries.

A cat who is declawed may be more likely to bite, because their primary defense mechanism has been taken away, in turn making them potentially more aggressive. Declawing can also alter the conforms of a cat’s foot, leading to back pain similar to what we experience when wearing improper shoes. Removing a cat’s claws makes them feel defenseless and can result in a hateful, withdrawn, scared cat. In turn, the constant state of stress can make them more prone to disease.

5 reasons to not declaw your cat from the Humane Society of the United States:
Declawing involves amputating the entire last part of the 10 front toes. A comparison in humans would be cutting off a person’s finger at the last joint.
General anesthesia is used for this surgery, which always has a certain degree of risk associated with it.
Declawing, whether performed using a scalpel or laser, provides no medical benefits to cats and is a painful procedure.
Nerves, tendons and muscles are severed along with the joints, making recovery from declawing painful and lengthy.
Declawing robs a cat of an integral means of balance, movement and defense.

Alternative Options to Declawing:
Sticky Paws or Double sided tape: Adhesive products applied to furniture or specific surfaces to prevent your cat from inappropriately scratching them.
Soft Paws/Nail Caps: Plastic covers that are applied to a cat’s claws so as to prevent them from inappropriately scratching furniture or certain surfaces. Nail caps are available commercially to cover the claws. A nontoxic adhesive is used to attach a plastic cap over each claw.
Scratching Posts: Provide a specific spot for your cats to appropriately scratch, as it is in their nature. Scratching posts offer an alternative to scratching on furniture. Cats can be trained to use these fairly easily, especially if sprayed with attractive scents, such as catnip.
Feliway: A synthetic feel good pheromone that can be sprayed onto objects or surfaces that you don’t want your cat to inappropriately scratch.
Nail Trims: Regularly trimming your cat’s nails keeps them shorter, and less sharp. This in turn can help prevent damage to furniture or other areas your cat is inappropriately scratching. If the claws are clipped as needed, cats will have less desire to remove the husks of dead claws through scratching
Deterrents: Discourage your cat from clawing furniture by using a deterrent scent or spray on furniture, which cats generally do not like.

As always, Speak with your veterinarian about cat declawing and the alternatives.

11/29/2025

🌟 It's Giving Tuesday! 🌟 Join us in supporting our advocacy group's fight for the animals. Our mission is to advocate for the welfare, protection, and rights of domestic animals by being a vigilant and compassionate voice, raising awareness, providing education, and advocating through factual dedication. Donations fund operating costs such as website fees, domain, software, technical applications, public record fees, ect.

Through public records, we uncover truth, evidence of neglectful management choices, and are able shed light on the wrongdoings at SCRAPS. Without public records, we cannot maintain the factual-based presence we have within our community.

While donations are not tax-deductible We are a 501(c)(3) organization so your donation is tax-deductible. Every contribution counts! Together, we can make a difference.

https://venmo.com/UndergroundRainbow13