For many shelters, a true no-kill save rate may be closer to 95% (or higher). While the 90% benchmark offers a meaningful, consistent way to gauge progress, it is neither a floor nor a ceiling. What it means to be a no-kill animal shelter It is imperative that the community and local government provide their shelters with the support they need to succeed. Community-supported sheltering is the intersection among animal shelters, the community and government to support and leverage each other's resources to protect and serve the most vulnerable pets and their people in a community.įor far too long, the burden has been placed on shelters themselves to save the lives of the animals in their care. When animal shelters, governments and community members value the philosophical principles of no-kill and work together to implement systems and programs to uphold those principles, it is possible to achieve a community sheltering system in which euthanasia is performed only as an act of mercy. We'll need to continue to address the systemic issues that put pets at risk to ensure that every savable animal can be saved, and to alleviate suffering and preserve the human-animal bond.

But first, we want to help every shelter in every community reach the 90% no-kill benchmark by 2025. The ultimate goal, however, is to ensure that every shelter has the resources to save every dog and cat who can be saved, whether that percentage is 90% or something else. Therefore, we designate shelters that meet the 90% save-rate benchmark as no-kill.

Typically, the number of pets who are suffering from irreparable medical or behavioral issues that compromise their quality of life and prevent them from being rehomed is not more than 10% of all dogs and cats entering shelters. But it's helpful to have a way to clearly measure lifesaving progress as we move forward together, and that's where the 90% benchmark comes in.Ī 90% save rate for animals entering a shelter is a meaningful and common-sense benchmark for measuring lifesaving progress. No-kill, as a philosophical principle, means saving every dog or cat in a shelter who can be saved.

Best no kill shelters near me