Why You Too Should Support No Kill Shelters

It is estimated that three to four million pets are euthanized each year in the United States. Some experts estimate even more. In an effort to curb this unnecessary killing, no kill animal shelters are being established all across the United States and in other countries as well. These are no kill shelters where animals are put up for adoption in place of killing them immediately. Euthanizing is only performed in extreme situations such as an animal that is too sick or is too aggressive.
The difficult part of establishing and maintaining a no kill shelter is the expense. Feeding and caring for 100’s of animals is a strain for any budget, not to mention that many no kill animal shelters provide low to no cost spay/neuter services for low-income households, all of which is another expense to burden. Finding financial ways to support no kill shelters is in high demand and increasingly becoming a burden in many cities.
Experts believe that by expanding and offering low to no cost spay/neuter services such as no kill animal shelters promote, it will taking control of the birth rate of unwanted pets which end up in animal shelters. Many States in have created laws mandating that shelters neuter or spay each animal that is adopted. There are states that prohibit carbon monoxide for the purpose of euthanizing animals as it seen by many as a torturous slow death. While other states have put accountability to each shelter for the intake of their animals and what happens to them.
While most shelters charge a fee to adopt these animals for their shots, neutering and spay, it still falls short for feeding them and caring for these animals each day. There are organizations and groups that raise money and awareness of no kill shelters; however it is often not enough. There are several cities throughout the United States that have established different programs in hopes of limiting the number of animals that are euthanized.
One such program is to take stray cats and dogs and sterilize them, vaccinate them and then if not able to find new owners, return them to the streets. The thought here is that they won’t be contributing to the population of strays any longer but still get to live. These programs are often funded by no kill shelters that provide no to low cost vaccination, neutering or spaying along with educational classes. It is hoped that by providing these services with behavior classes and dog training shelters will be able to reduce the number of animals that are surrendered to shelters.
Regardless which type of shelter you may be an advocate of, they all have expenses and costs to run and maintain. However, the funding to support no kill shelters is higher and therefore a bigger burden on municipalities’ budgets. When economic times are tough as they are currently, it is even harder to get financial aid to support no kill animal shelters, yet they are more burdened with animals by families that can no longer care for their pets.
It is the hope of many experts and animal advocates that someday a happy medium will be found where no kill animal shelters will have the same regards in financial support as other programs. Until then, the creative means of finding and gaining finances to support no kill shelters will continue along with accepting donations and great organizations that work towards raising funds and awareness.