Humane League of Lancaster County going no kill

[Anne_FS]

@Brandy76;6629103

It’s always comforting to know there are many of us out there, soemwhere, with a flashlight , a blanket, and a can of food, trying to help!

(lol). Yes, that’s us. I can only keep remembering the saying that you can’t save them all and make a difference, but to each individual one that you save, you’ve made a tremendous positive difference for that ONE. And that’s something.

I had a sad failure this week in a little feral kitten with a broken leg (not in my area but I went and got it). The most adorable tiny thing, but the leg had been broken for a couple days before someone contacted me, and although that same night she was captured and taken to a vet, she passed away after surgery. It was horrible. I don’t know how vets can keep dealing with sad endings. It crushes me.

[LauraKY]

I think most of us who care try to change things. I guess I just was a little shocked at the horror of a shelter changing to no kill. Like I said, it can be successful, if they do it right. And it includes TNR, low cost spay and neuter, foster homes for dogs, placement for seniors to human seniors (which can be a really great program) and very expensive licensing for intact dogs. And an A/C that cares.

Sorry you don’t have that. My county shelter is terrible, quite a few people have been trying to fix it for years, so I can sympathize. My new A/C, however, is great. The shelter manager is politically connected and I live in Kentucky, south of Lexington. Humane Society does what they can, so do breed rescues, who also take mixes. I have several dumped dogs myself, and a bunch of speutered cats. One who peed all over about 50 bales of hay in the hay loft before I caught him, so I totally get it. Ungrateful wretch left after he was neutered and vaccinated.

BTW, that cute little sheltie was so terrified and scrunched in the corner, refusing to eat that the shelter manager was really concerned she wasn’t go to make it. She’d been used as a backyard breeder dog, the owner dumped her when she was no longer useful.

So, I totally get it. I was concerned you were throwing the baby out with the bath water and condemning all no kill shelters.

[Arrows_Endure]

I work in a no kill shelter. I’m sure some shelters are doing it wrong, but I was kind of irritated that you lumped EVERY no-kill shelter in the same big, horrible pile.

The average amount of time our dogs spend in the shelter is two months. Kittens stay in an average of one month. Adult cats, it’s more like six months. Dogs live in large indoor/outdoor kennels. They are turned out in groups in grassy yards for a couple of hours a day (providing they are good with other dogs, otherwise they are in individual turn out). We have a bunch of volunteers that walk them regularly and do basic obedience training. We temperment assess all of our dogs at intake, and then about a week later after they settle into the shelter. If any major issues pop up, we place them in a behavior modification program.

In the last year, we have euthanized one dog for behavior reasons, a large hound mix that was unpredictable aggressive with staff. Honestly, I think there was a screw loose in that one. We have one other that I think we should have euthanized, but as he was young and cute as hell, we had a trainer take him on as a foster in an attempt to fix his issues. That one is still out in foster, and time will tell if he’s fixable.

Our cats live in group rooms. We have three large rooms each with an outdoor fenced in area. They have cat trees, hidey spots, clean litter boxes, and a core of volunteers that spend time with the cats daily. Our room cats are all fairly happy. We do have some small cages for quarantine cats or new comers into the shelter, but they don’t generally stay in there long.

We take in some strays, we pull animals out of kill shelters, and take in an occasional owner turn in. On average, we adopt about 60 animals a month. Last month it was 40 dogs, 20 cats.

No kill shelters done right are not a bad thing. No kill shelters done wrong are a horrid place. On the same token, kill shelters done right are good thing, and kill shelters done wrong are horrid. It’s all on how it’s done…

[SquishTheBunny]

I agree No Kill can have its downfalls, but its also really dependent on location. Some areas simply are overrun, while others can afford to properly care for any animal that walks through their doors. I think the “average” shelter will run into problems if they have a zero euthanasia policy.

I think “low kill” shelters are wonderful. Do what you can to save the adoptable ones, the ones that are truly nice dogs/cats and can serve a family as a loyal pet.

Dogs with aggression, major illness or feral/sick cats can not all be saved.

Our local humane society changed from a no kill to a low kill (and the animal services shelter changed froma high kill to low kill) and this method has really seemed to work for both cases. Reasonably low numers of adoptable type dogs and lots of cat “rooms” instead of kennels where potential owners can often interact and adopt a cat (and the cat’s friend!).

Huge difference in these shelters, for the better. Unfortunatley some animals do not get saved, but the ones who mentally are suitable to be put in homes do have physical issues addressed.

[Casey09]

I totally agree that with Arrows Endure that it is all in how it’s done. There are good and bad no-kill (and low-kill shelters). Good shelters incorporate programs to bring people in and adopt the animals out.
We are fortunate to have some really good no kill shelters here (of course they do euthanize animals that are too aggressive to be safely adopted into homes and animals whose health dictates euthanasia). Some are even open admission for their communities. They are very nice shelters that are clean and really well-ran, and they are focused on adoptions. Some animals of course end up staying longer than others, but they really work to get them adopted and they place a lot of animals into homes. They also send some animals into rescues and reunite many with their owners.
All shelters should be held to high standards of humane treatment of animals.
I do think that there is a significant role for no-kill shelters in our society, and that is for a very simple reason. A lot of people have a really hard time going into a high kill shelter to adopt a dog or cat because they know that they will only be adopting one animal. A lot of people have a really hard time volunteering for high kill shelters because they worry that they’ll want to take every animal home, and grieve when animals are put down. A lot of people don’t want to foster for high kill shelters because they know that they will become attached and it won’t be a positive experience if the ending is not a happy one. No kill shelters can often really involve the community and get people into the shelter, whether to adopt an animal or help walk and bathe animals in preparation for an adoption event.