What Does No Kill Mean?
No Kill means that animals in shelters are given every opportunity to find good permanent homes.
No Kill means that no animal is ever killed just to "make room."
No Kill means that no animal is killed because it is "difficult to adopt."
No Kill is more than just a phrase. It is a call to action through the implementation of
life saving programs.
No Kill does not mean that animals are never killed. Euthanasia (in the true
sense of the word) is practiced when it is the only humane alternative.
This occurs only when an animal is too sick or injured to be helped by
reasonable medical care. Or, when an animal is a bona fide danger to
people or other animals
The Lehigh Valley has almost reached no kill status. The last killing shelter in our community is the Lehigh County Humane Society. Unfortunately, they are also the largest volume shelter and the most intransigent.
There must be a way to stop the killing of thousands of innocent helpless animals each year. Please help us to find it. Contact us by email at nokill.lehighvalley@yahoo.com if you would like to help. And please take a few minutes to go through our website which contains a great deal of important information.
We are so close to becoming a No Kill Community - a place where companion animals are safe. Please
help us to get there. Contact the Humane Society at 610-797-1205. Let them know that you expect
them to do more to save animals' lives. They have just celebrated their 100th anniversary.
Tell them that the best way to celebrate would be to stop the killing!
To learn more about the No Kill Movement, read "Redemption"
by Nathan Winograd. It is available through Amazon.com.
It can be done! It has been done!
The city of San Francisco became the first no kill community in the nation in the 1990s
by saving all healthy dogs and cats city and county-wide.
The Tompkins Co. SPCA in rural upstate New York, an open door animal shelter with the
animal control contract for the area, now has a 93% save rate.
The animal control shelter in Charlottesville, Va., a southern, rural open door shelter, has a 92% save rate.
The Humane Society in Reno, Nevada has hired a new director committed to no kill. Between January 1, 2006 and January 1, 2007, the kill rate for dogs decreased by 57%, while the adoption rate increased by 91%. During this same period, the kill rate for cats decreased by 45% while the adoption rate increased by 105%.
The state of New Hampshire became a no kill state when state funded low cost spay/neuter became available.
The save rate throughout the state is 93%. (www.saveourstrays.com)
The state of Utah is near no kill status. (www.bestfriends.org)
The cities of New York and Philadelphia have both launched no kill initiatives and are already saving countless lives.
No Kill has been a reality in England and many parts of Europe for over 30 years. This movement has finally taken hold in America. Communities are questioning the ethical and moral dilemma of killing healthy or treatable animals in order to make room for more who will then be killed to make room for more, and, sadly, so on. People of conscience are recognizing that this practice has done nothing to solve the problem of homeless companion animals. In fact, it has done the opposite by perpetuating the belief that animals are disposable. It really is time for a change. Those who oppose this change, and there are many, are unable to accept the terrible reality that they have been getting it wrong all this time. They try to hide the blood of the innocents on their hands by insisting that there is no other way. They call those who are leading the movement in a new direction "idealists", as if that were a bad thing to be. The fact is, all movements which have changed the world have been led by idealists. That said, the No Kill movement is based on an understanding of reality which translates into practices that must be implemented before lives can be saved. These are described on our page, Programs and Policies.
"If every animal shelter in the United States embraced the No Kill philosophy and the programs and services that make it a reality, we would save over 4 million dogs and cats who are scheduled to die in shelters this year and the year after that. It is not an impossible dream."
No Kill Advocacy Center
But, it will stay a dream unless the programs are put in place that will make it a reality. Here in the Valley we have come a long way towards reaching this goal. Many programs and services are already in place, but are not offered uniformly or to the extent that is required to really make a difference. The tragedy is that this is all possible. The only obstacles are the outmoded policies and rigid thinking that impede positive change. There is only one killing shelter left in the Lehigh Valley - the Lehigh County Humane Society on Dixon St. in Allentown. They refuse to release their statistics, but it is estimated that they kill over 5000 companion animals a year. The vast majority are healthy and adoptable. They alone stand in the way of the Lehigh Valley becoming a No Kill Community.
To learn about the sheltering movement in America - and how it went so wrong - read Nathan Winograd's new book, "Redemption", available through the
No Kill Advocacy Center (www.nokilladvocacycenter.org)
These programs constitute the No Kill Equation and are essential elements of a no kill community:
Feral Cat TNR Program
High -Volume, Low-Cost Spay/Neuter
Rescue Groups
Foster Care
Comprehensive Adoption Programs
Pet Retention
Medical & Behavioral Rehabilitation
Public Relations & Community Involvement
Volunteers
A Compassionate Director
It is not enough to just take animals in and try to find them homes. This extremely limited approach has been used since sheltering began. It has not solved the problem. Killing animals deemed "hard to place" because they are too old or too young or too shy or not pretty enough has not solved the problem. Trapping feral cats and then killing them because they are "not adoptable" has not solved the problem. Providing shelter for a few forever and closing the door on the rest has not solved the problem. Lack of cooperation and coordination among the various groups has certainly not solved the problem. And yet, these situations continue to exist while innocent animals die. Isn't it time for a change?
The Northampton County SPCA ( now the Center for Animal Health and Welfare) thought it was when the shelter went no kill in 2003. To make this happen the administration worked hard to greatly enlarge the foster home program, engage with more rescues, expedite the adoption process by taking animals off site and offering special incentives and, most importantly, by instituting a dynamic and aggressive spay/neuter program. There were plenty of people who insisted that none of this would work and the Center faces difficult problems every day. But they have a commitment to honor . That is that every animal who comes to them is important and deserves every chance to find a forever home. It can be done. They have done it.
No Kill means that animals in shelters are given every opportunity to find good permanent homes.
No Kill means that no animal is ever killed just to "make room."
No Kill means that no animal is killed because it is "difficult to adopt."
No Kill is more than just a phrase. It is a call to action through the implementation of
life saving programs.
No Kill does not mean that animals are never killed. Euthanasia (in the true
sense of the word) is practiced when it is the only humane alternative.
This occurs only when an animal is too sick or injured to be helped by
reasonable medical care. Or, when an animal is a bona fide danger to
people or other animals
The Lehigh Valley has almost reached no kill status. The last killing shelter in our community is the Lehigh County Humane Society. Unfortunately, they are also the largest volume shelter and the most intransigent.
There must be a way to stop the killing of thousands of innocent helpless animals each year. Please help us to find it. Contact us by email at nokill.lehighvalley@yahoo.com if you would like to help. And please take a few minutes to go through our website which contains a great deal of important information.
We are so close to becoming a No Kill Community - a place where companion animals are safe. Please
help us to get there. Contact the Humane Society at 610-797-1205. Let them know that you expect
them to do more to save animals' lives. They have just celebrated their 100th anniversary.
Tell them that the best way to celebrate would be to stop the killing!
To learn more about the No Kill Movement, read "Redemption"
by Nathan Winograd. It is available through Amazon.com.
It can be done! It has been done!
The city of San Francisco became the first no kill community in the nation in the 1990s
by saving all healthy dogs and cats city and county-wide.
The Tompkins Co. SPCA in rural upstate New York, an open door animal shelter with the
animal control contract for the area, now has a 93% save rate.
The animal control shelter in Charlottesville, Va., a southern, rural open door shelter, has a 92% save rate.
The Humane Society in Reno, Nevada has hired a new director committed to no kill. Between January 1, 2006 and January 1, 2007, the kill rate for dogs decreased by 57%, while the adoption rate increased by 91%. During this same period, the kill rate for cats decreased by 45% while the adoption rate increased by 105%.
The state of New Hampshire became a no kill state when state funded low cost spay/neuter became available.
The save rate throughout the state is 93%. (www.saveourstrays.com)
The state of Utah is near no kill status. (www.bestfriends.org)
The cities of New York and Philadelphia have both launched no kill initiatives and are already saving countless lives.
No Kill has been a reality in England and many parts of Europe for over 30 years. This movement has finally taken hold in America. Communities are questioning the ethical and moral dilemma of killing healthy or treatable animals in order to make room for more who will then be killed to make room for more, and, sadly, so on. People of conscience are recognizing that this practice has done nothing to solve the problem of homeless companion animals. In fact, it has done the opposite by perpetuating the belief that animals are disposable. It really is time for a change. Those who oppose this change, and there are many, are unable to accept the terrible reality that they have been getting it wrong all this time. They try to hide the blood of the innocents on their hands by insisting that there is no other way. They call those who are leading the movement in a new direction "idealists", as if that were a bad thing to be. The fact is, all movements which have changed the world have been led by idealists. That said, the No Kill movement is based on an understanding of reality which translates into practices that must be implemented before lives can be saved. These are described on our page, Programs and Policies.
"If every animal shelter in the United States embraced the No Kill philosophy and the programs and services that make it a reality, we would save over 4 million dogs and cats who are scheduled to die in shelters this year and the year after that. It is not an impossible dream."
No Kill Advocacy Center
But, it will stay a dream unless the programs are put in place that will make it a reality. Here in the Valley we have come a long way towards reaching this goal. Many programs and services are already in place, but are not offered uniformly or to the extent that is required to really make a difference. The tragedy is that this is all possible. The only obstacles are the outmoded policies and rigid thinking that impede positive change. There is only one killing shelter left in the Lehigh Valley - the Lehigh County Humane Society on Dixon St. in Allentown. They refuse to release their statistics, but it is estimated that they kill over 5000 companion animals a year. The vast majority are healthy and adoptable. They alone stand in the way of the Lehigh Valley becoming a No Kill Community.
To learn about the sheltering movement in America - and how it went so wrong - read Nathan Winograd's new book, "Redemption", available through the
No Kill Advocacy Center (www.nokilladvocacycenter.org)
These programs constitute the No Kill Equation and are essential elements of a no kill community:
Feral Cat TNR Program
High -Volume, Low-Cost Spay/Neuter
Rescue Groups
Foster Care
Comprehensive Adoption Programs
Pet Retention
Medical & Behavioral Rehabilitation
Public Relations & Community Involvement
Volunteers
A Compassionate Director
It is not enough to just take animals in and try to find them homes. This extremely limited approach has been used since sheltering began. It has not solved the problem. Killing animals deemed "hard to place" because they are too old or too young or too shy or not pretty enough has not solved the problem. Trapping feral cats and then killing them because they are "not adoptable" has not solved the problem. Providing shelter for a few forever and closing the door on the rest has not solved the problem. Lack of cooperation and coordination among the various groups has certainly not solved the problem. And yet, these situations continue to exist while innocent animals die. Isn't it time for a change?
The Northampton County SPCA ( now the Center for Animal Health and Welfare) thought it was when the shelter went no kill in 2003. To make this happen the administration worked hard to greatly enlarge the foster home program, engage with more rescues, expedite the adoption process by taking animals off site and offering special incentives and, most importantly, by instituting a dynamic and aggressive spay/neuter program. There were plenty of people who insisted that none of this would work and the Center faces difficult problems every day. But they have a commitment to honor . That is that every animal who comes to them is important and deserves every chance to find a forever home. It can be done. They have done it.
