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 expanding its resources using volunteers, excellent housing and medical protocols; and to work actively to lower the number of homeless animals entering the shelter system.

A no-kill or limited admit shelter is a shelter that save 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."

Some shelters claim they are no kill when they save all "adoptable" animals, but continue to kill many healthy, treatable, or rehabilitatable animals, such as feral cats. No kill advocate Nathan Winograd states that a Los Angeles animal shelter "was claiming to be saving almost all 'adoptable' animals even while it was killing half the dogs and 80% of all cats. A shelter does not achieve No Kill by calling animals 'unadoptable' before killing them; it achieves No Kill by actually saving their lives."

No kill advocate Nathan Winograd has developed a set of eleven life-saving practices outlined in the No Kill Equation Some of these programs include:

Some no-kill shelter advocates state that spay/neuter programs are among the most important techniques in achieving no-kill goals. A US study showed that low income families are less likely to have their pets neutered. In San Francisco, CA, the city’s animal shelter took in 21 percent fewer pit bulls just 18 months after the passage of a law requiring the sterilization of the breed.

Events such as the annual World Spay Day have resulted in large numbers of companion animals spayed and neutered. In 2014, 700 World Spay Day events were held in 41 countries, including all 50 U.S. states, and over 68,000 companion animals were sterilized.

No-Kill proponents believe that while spay/neuter programs reduce the overall supply of pets, adoption programs allow pets to go to permanent homes and make space for other incoming animals. Shelters may be open beyond normal working hours, to allow working families more opportunities to visit and adopt animals. Cageless facilities may be used to create a more inviting setting for the public, and the animals.

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Wikipedia