No Kill Conference for Animal Shelters

Reflections from the No Kill Conference in Washington DC

Why death rates in animal shelters have been cut nation-wide by 85% since the 1970's and why Minnesota shelters keep on killing
by Mike Fry

Today marks the beginning of Be Kind to Animals Week and as I sit down to write this, I am both physically exhausted and incredibly inspired. I returned yesterday from Washington DC where I attended and presented at the No Kill Conference. Coordinated by the No Kill Advocacy Center and hosted by the George Washington School of Law, this event featured dynamic presentations from some of our nation's leading animal welfare advocates working in the legal and sheltering fields to end the systematic killing of animals in animal shelters.

The event was energizing, inspiring, informative and just plain fun, with hundreds of attendees packing the presentations to standing-room-only.

During the keynote address, Richard Avanzino, thought by many to be the founder of the national no kill movement in the United States, presented some remarkable statistics. Avanzino was the Executive Director at the San Francisco SPCA when that city virtually ended the killing of healthy dogs and cats. He is now the President of Maddie's Fund, the World's largest animal welfare foundation. Maddie's Fund focuses its resources on helping communities achieve similar, and in some cases, even better results, than were achieved in San Francisco.

Avanzino presented statistics of shelter deaths nationally since the 1970's, when our nation's animal control and animal welfare organizations were killing, on average, about 115 dogs and cats annually for every 1,000 human residents (or about 24 million deaths). Last year, deaths at these facilities were down to about 12 per thousand humans (or about 3.6 million deaths). That is a reduction in killing of 85%.

While that is certainly wonderful news, I could not help but reflect on the fact that, in Minnesota, things have not gone so well. In fact, in the Twin Cities, animal shelters are still killing about the same number of dogs and cats as they were in the 1970's. While shelters around the country have been implementing and embracing the various programs and services generally referred to as The No Kill Equation, Minnesota's largest shelters have not. In fact, Minnesota's wealthiest animal shelter (annual budget in excess of $11 million) has suggested they cannot implement these programs for a variety of reasons. They have gone so far as to suggest that some are illegal, when they are not. They have said of others that they lack the resources to implement them, in spite of having millions of dollars in reserves. Other critical aspects of the No Kill Equation, they have said, are "not a priority" for them. As a result, the Animal Humane Society annually continues to unnecessarily kill between 14,000 and 16,000 dogs and cats each year. In total, shelter deaths in Twin Cities metro area shelters are about 3 times the national average, in spite of being home to one of the wealthiest animal shelters in the nation.

It is also worth pointing out that admissions to animal shelters in the Twin Cities are actually lower than the national average, providing further evidence that the overwhelming majority of these deaths are unnecessary.

According to Nathan Winograd, founder of the No Kill Advocacy Center and Avanzino, that reality is going to have to change.

The American public, they say, is filled with animal-lovers who want change. And, ironically, it has been these animal welfare advocates, often working at the grass-roots level, that have brought about much of the positive change in our country. They say that many donors are actually more advanced in their thinking than some animal welfare organizations themselves.
They also state that because of new technologies like YouTube, Twitter and FaceBook, these grass-roots animal welfare advocates are gaining a louder voice.

Take, for example a petition that was recently posted online. The petition is calling for the resignation of the CEO and COO of the Animal Humane Society. The petition cites the unnecessarily high kill rate for this organization as the primary rationale for this demand. Though only recently posted, the petition has already gathered nearly 1100 signatures from Minnesota and far beyond.

This educated and passionate public is the primary reason Windograd and Avanzino give for a wave of successes sweeping the nation. "The American public is ahead of the animal welfare movement on this issue," said Avanzino. "People have a right to demand the organizations they support live up to their mission of saving every life they can. And, animal welfare advocates are doing just that."

These are some of the reasons Avanzino states that a no kill nation is not only inevitable, it is imminent. Data from multiple sources indicates that the USA will achieve no kill status by 2015. In examining the evidence presented at the No Kill Conference, I believe that to be true. During the next 6 years, leadership at organizations that fail to fully embrace the new paradigm of life-saving will be replaced by a new generation of leadership.

The no kill revolution is marching on!