It is a choice- No Kill

Choice, it is all about choice.  Organizations, government, the community as a whole have to decide. Is it ok for the life of a pet to be taken because there is another pet needing its cage? 

I recently had the privilege of speaking at the Best Friends Animal Society’s National Conference in Salt Lake City, which hosted over 1,300 industry people.  At the conference the group planted a stake in the ground, announcing they were taking the United States to No Kill by 2025.  Wow, that seems daunting when you consider that there are only around 300 No Kill communities in the US.  

  

Similarly, in 2009 the Lynchburg Humane Society’s board of directors planted our stake in the ground for Lynchburg City.  We made a commitment to change how we operated and created a community where pets’ lives were valued and no healthy or treatable pet would be euthanized.  In 2011, the Lynchburg Humane Society succeeded with a save rate of 90%, which is a nationally recognized threshold. Today we are at 97%.  

This made me think, how can we help in Best Friend’s goal and commitment to a no kill nation by 2025?  Do we put a stake in the ground and make a commitment to have a No Kill region in Central Virginia? Or for the entire Commonwealth of Virginia—where the pets’ lives are valued and not killed just because there are too many or don’t have a home?

We think the answer is yes.  

In our area, we have two government run public shelters doing remarkable work: Bedford and Appomattox counties, who we think will be in the 80-90% save rate this year. It took one person in both counties to stand up and say it ‘needs to be different’. They have taken charge of their efforts and have support from not only the public and rescues but from county government.  We applaud the county officials who have supported their life saving efforts.  They chose to stop the killing, find solutions and ask for help from their community.  Like the Lynchburg Humane Society, they took killing out of the tool box and replaced it with other programs and choices. And shouldn’t all local governments in our area (and beyond) be asking themselves how they can do more? How they can use tax-payer money effectively- saving lives instead of euthanizing when there is very clearly another option? 

I recognize this statement will make people upset in this field.  They think they have no choice and that their hands are tied.  There are many great workers out there in the trenches that really don’t have choices.  But this community and the leaders of the organizations/counties do have choices.  They can stop blaming the public, making excuses and they can take killing out of the tool box and find other resources instead. But they need resources to stop and the biggest resource is the publics support.

Each and every one of us needs to think differently, it is time to reinvent the shelter system and stop the status quo and this catch and kill mentality.    

How did Lynchburg go No Kill? We stopped taking in feral cats in general and instead offer free spay/neuter for community cats.  We encourage people who find healthy stray adult cats to leave them alone because 66% of the cats will find their way back home if left to do so. Only 2-4% will find their way back home in a shelter.  Some might think this is cruel and dangerous for the cats, but when the number one reason cats are dying in the US is shelters, statistics say traditional shelters can be more dangerous.  

We changed our attitudes at LHS and saw the community as a partner and trusted them and hold them in high regard.  We believe most people are good and we don’t set policy on the few irresponsible ones out there who won’t do the right thing.  

We work with our city and animal control, we have a vibrant foster program, and we have adoption specials, we celebrate every pet who goes home.  We advertise and we help owners with their problems by offering free food, behavior assistance and re-homing services.  And yes, we do ask owners to wait to surrender their pets, not just because we are full but because we want to help them solve their own problem and we can be there immediately for those citizens who have emergencies and can’t wait. 

You. You are the reason that we can see a brighter future for the pets of this area.  You!  There is a solution but only if the people who care can work together.  We predict we will see a No Kill Virginia way before 2025, because we believe in the public. 

To those officials who say “we can’t be no kill,” we ask why not? The Lynchburg Humane Society is putting a stake in the ground and making a commitment to help those counties when we can, who want the help. We are asking the other wonderful groups in the trenches doing the hard work to put a stake in the ground, too.   

None of us takes this path because it will be easy, we have our detractors and those that don’t want to see a no kill state or region, who want us to fail.   For us, it is a choice of not taking the easy path but taking the right path.  What will you choose?