Winter 2010 - PAWS Chicago

Unfortunately, not everyone shares
those values. Pressured by their
constituents, pressured by taxpayers,
and pressured by a growing army of
compassionate animal activists which
are calling for an end to the killing, some
shelters are responding by embracing the
language of No Kill, but not the actual
programs and services which save lives.
In other words, they are claiming that
they are “No Kill” even as they continue
to kill large numbers of animals. To
do that, they are claiming that all the
animals they do kill are “unadoptable.”
This allows them to defray criticism,
without doing the hard but noble work of
saving all the lives at risk. Because to the
public, “unadoptable” implies a common
sense definition of the word–a dog or
cat who is hopelessly sick or injured or,
in the case of dogs, who may be vicious
and therefore poses a real and immediate
threat to public safety. That is what
many of these shelters expect the public
to believe: that they are, in fact, already
meeting the dictionary definition of
euthanasia (“the act or practice of killing
hopelessly sick or injured individual
animals in a relatively painless way for
reasons of mercy”) when they call a dog
or cat “unadoptable.” But that is not the
criteria they are using to make those
determinations.
As a result, while shelters claim they are
saving “all adoptable animals,” they are
still killing as they have always done but
only after unfairly labeling the animals
“unadoptable.” In Los Angeles, for
example, an 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.
So given that more and more shelters
are using the No Kill terminology, how
can an animal lover be sure they are
supporting the organizations that truly
reflect their values How can you be sure
that the animal you rescued off the street
is going to the right place How can you
know whether shelters are truly doing all
they can to save the life of animals The
answer is the “90% Rule.”
Based on dog bite extrapolation data
and the results of the best performing
shelters in the country, we know that
over 90 percent of animals entering
shelters are savable. The most successful
communities across the world save
between 92 percent and 97 percent of
animals. Indeed,
one shelter in
In Los Angeles an animal shelter
was claiming to be saving almost all
“adoptable” animals even
while it was killing half the
dogs and 80% of all cats.
New Zealand
is on pace for
a stunning 99
percent save rate
this year. The
good news is that
this result occurs
even in shelters
which are “open
admission,” meaning they are the animal
control agency in their community. A
municipal shelter in Nevada is saving
95% of all animals, even with a per capita
intake rate that is four times the rate of
Los Angeles, seven times the rate of New
York City, and over twice the national
average.
But, like all things, it isn’t an exercise in
simplicity. It requires more than simply
asking “What is your save rate” and then
waiting for the answer. We need to know
that the answer encompasses all animals.
Like Los Angeles, if the answer is only
those animals they consider “adoptable,”
we are being misled. To be a true No Kill
shelter, the 90% save rate must be based
on all animals entering the shelter, each
and every one: the “cute and cuddlies”
and even the “old and uglies.”
Because if you share the No Kill
philosophy, if you believe in the sanctity
of life, if you think being beautiful on
the inside also makes you beautiful on
the outside (and what animal isn’t),
they are all cute and cuddly, regardless
of their age or infirmary, and they all
should be counted. In fact, what some
traditional shelters might see as a lack
of objective beauty in some animals is
only a poor reflection of their own lack
of compassion.
That animal can be loved and cherished
and desperately missed by the family out
looking for him or her or by the next
family that walks in looking for a new
best friend. That is what makes the No
Kill philosophy so beautiful. It doesn’t
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. But that requires
shelters truly dedicated to that task.
Americans are crazy about their pets.
We spend $50 billion each year on their
care and comfort. And we give hundreds
of millions more to animal related
charities in need. We deserve shelters
that reflect, rather than thwart, our
values. And that means we deserve a No
Kill nation, both in name and in deed. Is
your shelter up to the task
See how Chicago Shelters add up on
page 30
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