Myths of No Kill - Article in Chatham Star Tribune

Myths of No Kill

We recently took in a 10-year-old dog from a great family who lived in Danville because they could no longer care for this dog.  They found him originally as a stray and kept him almost a year in their home.  He was a large red fuzzy mixed dog that was blind and deaf.   Some shelters may consider euthanizing this dog but instead we found him a new home where he can happily live out his life.  He was only at the shelter less than a week before he touched the heart of his new adopted family.   This is what no kill is, not taking the life of a pet just because they are old or have some manageable or treatable problems.  It is about being a resource for community members who can’t continue to care for their pets but don’t want them euthanized.

What does no kill mean? No Kill does not mean we don't euthanize. It means that we don't kill healthy and treatable pets as a means of controlling the population. A 90% save rate is the accepted industry threshold for being No Kill.

We want to end the suffering of pets through medical treatment and behavior enrichment/training not by euthanizing them because there are too many. We are dedicated to helping pets and solving the problem but it will take real commitment from the community. 

We feel it is morally wrong to take the life of a healthy or treatable pet just because there are too many and they don’t have a home. 

So what do you do we do when our center becomes full?  We promote adoptions, ask for help from foster caregivers, we ask for help from pet owners who may be able to wait a little longer to bring in their pet.  We developed programs to be proactive such as owner assistance to help people keep or re-home their pet, spay/neuter programs like we have put into place to provide free spay/neuter for outside cats in Pittsylvania County.  We work with great partners like the SPCA of Pittsylvania County to transfer pets to other organizations.