No-kill Shelter

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No-kill Shelters are a type of animal shelter with an anti-euthanasia policy for the animals they house. The most widely accepted definition of a no-kill shelter is a place where all adoptable and treatable animals are saved and where only unadoptable or non-rehabilitatable animals are euthanized. ^[1]

Humane societies and SPCAs often euthanize pets because they cannot find homes for them. Each day an estimated 70,000 puppies and kittens are born (25.5 million a year). Of these, six to ten million end up being euthanized.

1 Examples of No-Kill Shelters
2 Debate Over No-Kill Shelters
3 See also
4 Reference
5 External links

[edit] Examples of No-Kill Shelters

In 1994, the City of San Francisco orgininated the current trend towards "No Kill" shelters. The San Francisco SPCA guaranteed a home to every healthy dog and cat who entered the shelter system. However, the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control euthanizes many dogs and cats. ^[2]

In 2001, Tompkins County, New York became the second community in the nation to adopt this policy. And in 2002, Tompkins County went one step further by saving 100% of sick and injured treatable animals and 100% of feral cats. It repeated this in 2003, becoming the community with the lowest per capita euthanasia rate in the United States. Nathan J. Winograd is the former Executive Director of the Tompkins County SPCA and Director of Operations for the San Francisco SPCA. He has created successful No Kill programs in both urban and rural communities, and his organization, No Kill Solutions is often hired to help communities transition to No Kill.

Italy outlaws the euthanasia of healthy companion animals and controls stray populations through trap, neuter and release programs (TNR).

[edit] Debate Over No-Kill Shelters

Supporters of no-kill shelters believe that euthanizing healthy animals is inhumane. ^[3] Critics refer to no-kill shelters as “limited admission shelters” because of many no-kill shelters’ frequent need to turn away animals if they are deemed unadoptable or if the facilities are full; critics say that this often means the animals are abandoned, leading to a worse fate than euthanasia. ^[4] There is also the concern that animals who are not adopted from some no-kill shelters are confined for long periods of time in cages, a result some consider more inhumane than euthanasia. The consensus among both sides however is that the root of the problem is the overpopulation of cats and dogs, and that our society needs to solve this problem by spaying or neutering many more animals and by adopting animals from shelters or rescue groups instead of purchasing animals from breeders.