No-kill shelter

A "no-kill" shelter is an animal shelter that does not kill healthy or treatable animals even when the shelter is full, reserving euthanasia for terminally ill animals or those considered dangerous to public safety. A no-kill shelter uses many strategies to promote shelter animals; to expand its resources using volunteers, excellent housing and medical protocols; and to work actively to lower the number of homeless animals entering the shelter system.

Definition

A no-kill shelter is a shelter that saves all healthy, treatable and rehabilitatable animals. As a benchmark, at least 90% of the animals entering the shelter are expected to be saved. The save rate must be based on all animals entering the shelter: "It does not matter if the animals are old, blind, deaf, missing limbs, or traumatized. All of these animals are worthy of our compassion, all of them can find homes, and all of them deserve to."

Definitions of "treatable" or "rehabilitatable" can vary between organizations. Some definitions were developed in Pacific Grove, California in August 2004, termed the Asilomar Accords, which are often used in the U.S. Consistent with California's Hayden's Law, the terms include an adoptability component, and dogs and cats under the age of eight weeks of age are not included in the Asilomar Accords definitions. As a result, these definitions may exclude animals (especially kittens and puppies) who are actually healthy, rehabilitatable or treatable. In addition, "Some feral cats will fall into the “unhealthy & untreatable” category. Ferals, however, are one of the best illustrations of the fact that “unhealthy & untreatable” does not mean unsavable."

No Kill Equation

The No Kill Equation consists of eleven essential elements identified by animal advocate Nathan Winograd for creating a No Kill Community: where the animal control agency does not put to death any healthy or treatable companion animals. As a benchmark, at least 90% of the animals entering the shelter are expected to be saved.

Elements

See also

References