11/09/2022
Killing a healthy or treatable dog, cat, or other animal should be illegal, regardless of whether the animal is turned in to a shelter or taken to a private veterinarian. This is also true of “behavior” issues, especially in dogs, who are the most likely to be killed.
Not only is it unethical to kill healthy and treatable animals, but a recent study found that “over one-third (36.9%) of dogs originally brought in by their owners for euthanasia could, upon further evaluation by staff and discussion with owners, be made available for adoption…” It further found that, after assessment, these animals “had medical or behavioral concerns that were amenable to resolution, as opposed to all having terminal health conditions or intractable behavior problems.”
A second study found that many dogs labeled “behavior” are normal as “surrenders often say more about the people doing the surrendering — about ‘owner-related factors, needs, and expectations’ — than the dogs being surrendered.”
A third study found that dogs, like human children, go through a rebellious adolescent phase, and this is the time they are most likely to be seen as having “behavior problems,” surrendered to shelters, and killed.
A shelter committed to the best interests of animals would use The No Kill Advocacy Center’s proven protocol that has reduced the killing of dogs to less than 1%, even while reducing overall dog bites (in one city, serious dog bites were reduced by 89% despite an increase in the dog placement rate to 98%).
But since many shelters do not act in the best interest of animals, we’ve written legislation to force them to do so. The Do No Harm Act is here: https://bit.ly/3Dy50ow.
Our behavior protocol is here: https://bit.ly/3hbdUkb.
Help us make it a reality across the country: nokilladvocacycenter.org/support-us.
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Please note. We have a new mailing address for donations and other correspondence: P.O. Box 182, Canyon, CA 94516. Members of The No Kill Advocacy Center receive No Kill Sheltering, our magazine for saving lives: nokilladvocacycenter.substack.com.