2.3
April 9, 2013

The New Truth about No Kill Shelters.

The below represents a rebuttal of sorts to my own: “The Truth about PETA & those horrible Photos”~ ed.

The below comes via Reddit: click here for source and for the full conversation, some of which challenges various points below. It’s worth the read.

This comment has been upvoted quite a bit in another thread, and as someone who is intricately involved in this, I feel the need to address it specifically and point out where it is incorrect.

No-kill shelters simply turn away animals, kill shelters at least give them a chance because it’s a simple fact that there are far more homeless animals than there are homes available. And as for “adoption organizations” many of them simply browse the spca and dog kennel shelters and scoop up the cutest and most adoptable dogs for around $50-70 then resell them as a “rehoming fee” for 200-300 and write up some bs story of how the dog was moments from being put down. It’s a scam.

Breaking apart by pieces:

No-kill shelters simply turn away animals, kill shelters at least give them a chance

Wrong. There are two types of no kill shelters, open admission and closed admission. Closed admission do turn away animals, and while each is different in terms of care and selection criteria, often times animals do get impeccable care at these facilities. I volunteered at one regularly for three years and adopted an animal from one. I witnessed them do a double hip replacement surgery on a dog that needed it. Many, not all, take very excellent care of their animals, better than what many shelters can do.

Secondly, not all kill shelters give animals “a chance”. At the kill shelter I work with most frequently, about 1/2 of the animals are never sent to the adoption floor. They are killed as soon as the stray waiting period is over and never even seen by anyone but the shelter staff.

because it’s a simple fact that there are far more homeless animals than there are homes available

Wrong again. There are more homes looking to add an animal each year than there are animals being killed each year. It is a marketing and public perception problem, not a numbers problem.

And as for “adoption organizations” many of them simply browse the spca and dog kennel shelters and scoop up the cutest and most adoptable dogs for around $50-70 then resell them as a “rehoming fee” for 200-300 and write up some bs story of how the dog was moments from being put down.

Wrong again. I am a leader and board member for a rescue. We pull dogs from the kill list, sometimes as soon as 8 minutes before they are put down. We pull dogs that are hard cases. Many have behavior problems, and we send them to a trainer to work through them before putting them up for adoption. We have many dogs that are dog aggressive and work to adopt them out only dog homes, or to homes with dogs that they do get along with.

Further, the average cost to treat an animal after pulling them is around $250. Our $150 adoption fee often loses us money, and considering around half of our animals will be adopted out at a discounted rate, we are losing even more. Donations and grants make up where we lack.

It’s a scam.

No, it’s saving lives, and continuing to write it off as a scam is the reason people are hesitant to support our organizations and more likely to go to a breeder.

You cannot group all shelters and rescues as one. We are all different.

Most importantly, and I cannot stress this enough… There are open admission no kill shelters. I live 10 minutes from one in Rockwall, Texas. Do your research before spreading these lies.

It is time that we, as animal lovers, stop being complacent with our governments killing adoptable animals. It’s deplorable, and please ask yourself why you shouldn’t be angry about this. Get out there, volunteer, foster, and network the animals at risk in your community.

We can be a no kill nation but everyone needs to pitch in and do your part.

Thanks for reading this far, dog lovers.

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