“No-Kill” Animal Shelters

ANIMAL WATCH - Being a “No Kill” shelter, according to Best Friends Animal Society, is reaching a 90% “save rate,” a goal that was allegedly met by Los Angeles Animal Services on March 10, 2021, with much fanfare and political posturing by then-GM Brenda Barnette, and City Council President Eric Garcetti.

However, after that, things haven’t gone well for L.A. City animal shelters, or the animals. Kennels and crates in all six LAAS shelters became—and still are--agonizing prisons with far too many animals, some of which should have been humanely euthanized for health or behavior reasons that were obvious and irremediable, and some just because the length of time in “prison” had destroyed their body, mind and spirit.

Since then, animals have been increasingly reacting as would be expected when they are in these punishing conditions---they have finally attacked because that was the only “voice” they had.

'No Kill' Has Failed. ‘Best Friends’ Leaves LA City Animal Services Shelter, Annenberg Steps In

Although Best Friends admitted that its nationwide “No Kill” program had failed, it hasn’t given up on using it for publicity and encouraging animal shelters to publicly espouse the concept.

Pit Bull Attacks Dog and Volunteer During L.A. Animal Services Shelter “Play Group”

“NO KILL” IS A TRAGEDY - WHY IS THE MEDIA EXPLOITING IT?

Recently, a respected news outlet is seemingly placing pressure on certain shelters by describing them as “kill” shelters (see below). This imposes an additional burden on employees who are already stressed and can result in even fewer people adopting there:

Owner Forced To Surrender Dog To Kill Shelter ... - Newsweek

Woman Breaking Down After Saving Dog From Kill .Shelter.. - Newsweek

Tears Over Dogs Reactions After They Are ... - Newsweek

PET OVERPOPULATION, NOT EUTHANASIA, IS THE PROBLEM

“America’s Animal Shelters are Overwhelmed; Pets and Staff Are at Breaking Point” by S. E. Smith (April 17, 2024), who is a part-time employee of the Mendicino Coast Humane Society in Northern CA, is a must-read for anyone wanting to truly understand this issue.

In a comprehensive description, she explains, “The issue we and many other shelters are facing is this: after a record low of 5.5 million in 2020, animal intakes are slowly increasing, and they aren’t leaving – in 2023, 6.5 million animals entered, and only a little over a million left. “

“Animals are lingering for weeks, months and sometimes years in the shelter,” she states,”whereas, between 2022 and 2023, the number of animals waiting to get out of shelters increased by 177,000.”

She also describes other factors that have changed, “While the media popularized the idea of the “pandemic puppy,” she cites, “meaning dogs were adopted by white-collar workers trapped at home only to be discarded as soon as the world reopened, the truth of what’s happening in animal welfare is more complicated.”

She then reviews many important contributing factors; including the difficulty and rising costs of veterinary services combined with the loss of other economic assistance which helped families survive loss of jobs and income and rising costs, and she concludes that, “Far from a world where people treat animals as disposable, we are surrounded by people who love and desperately want to keep their pets, but can’t.”

Nancy Kerns of Whole Dog Journal, issued this practical warning regarding the emerging crisis on November 23, 2023: in -“Save Me! I Have Only a Day To Live!,”

“Euthanasia lists are not an answer to overcrowded shelters. Animals adopted just to save them often end up neglected, or back in the shelter system.”

She also includes a very important post by Bissell Pet Foundation, on what can result when shelters use social media to try to place dogs with a “euthanasia list plea,” which urges, “If you’re involved with a shelter or rescue group that has taken this approach, please read the post (below) and reconsider”

“In the past year, we have seen previously healthy dogs and cats living in filthy houses stacked in crates or chained and left to die on properties; experiencing flea infestations, starvation, untreated infected wounds, broken limbs from fighting, and a myriad of other horrifying conditions stemming from long-term neglect.”

“Simply put, pets pulled from shelters to avoid euthanasia sometimes endure unimaginable suffering only to be placed in a different shelter, where other pets might have to be euthanized to make space for them. What began as a noble act spiraled into a cycle of cruelty. This is happening in communities across the country,” she states.

How did we get here?

“Published euthanasia lists get urgent responses from the public, meaning pets will move out of the shelter. But at what cost?,” she asks.

“Many rescue groups are relentlessly pressured and threatened by endless online messages from people scrolling the internet for these lists. Facing criticism and fear of saying “no,” even the best of the best rescue groups are riddled with compassion fatigue, leading to bad decisions,” she adds.

(See: Compassion Fatigue: The Toll of Caring Too Much - Verywell Mind)

DECREASE BREEDING – INCREASE SPAY/NEUTER

“This is a community problem. People don’t have access to and cannot afford to spay and neuter their pets, leading to unwanted litters filling our nation’s shelters,” BISSELL Pet Foundation reminds us.

“This results in overcrowding and difficult decisions. High-impact programs are essential to future population control, such as BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Fix the Future™, which allows people to access spay/neuter for $25 or less.”

And, we are left with this final thought: "We can’t 'rescue' our way out of this problem; we need to address the root cause."

(Phyllis M. Daugherty is a former Los Angeles City employee, an animal activist and a contributor to CityWatch.)