Transitioning to No-Kill

Organizations and entire communities are making the transition to no-kill. Executive Directors describe what went into their decision to change policy, how they went about doing it and what the outcomes were.

• Using Data to Make Austin a No-Kill City

  March 2012
  Today, Austin has a save rate of 91%. That wasn’t the case just four years ago when 44% of the animals coming into the Austin Animal Center were losing their lives. Dr. Ellen Jefferson recounts how she used the shelter’s data to figure out bottlenecks in the system and develop and fine-tune programs to fill in the gaps.  Read More

• Getting to No-Kill by 2015: The HSUS Animal Care EXPO 2010

  February 2011
  On May 12, 2010, Maddie’s Fund presented Getting to No-Kill by 2015, a day-long workshop at The HSUS Animal Care EXPO. Seven power point presentations with audio from the workshop are available for viewing. They include: building a no-kill community, shelter medicine dos and don'ts, shelter enrichment, top adoption and marketing strategies and sustaining no-kill communities.  Read More

• Maddie's Shelter Medicine Conference

  November 2009
  On October 23 and 24, 2009, University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine hosted the second annual Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Conference in Gainesville, Florida. Eight power point presentations from the conference are available for viewing. They include: transitioning to adoption guarantee, creating a pet evaluation matrix, top adoption and marketing strategies and foster care.  Read More

• It Happened at EXPO: A Summary of Maddie's Daylong Workshop

  2009
  Maddie's eight-hour workshop, Is An Adoption Guarantee Really Possible? Four Steps to Success held in Las Vegas at The HSUS Animal Care EXPO, drew more than 200 attendees interested in saving the lives of their communities' healthy and treatable shelter dogs and cats.  Read More

• The Charlottesville, Virginia No-Kill Journey

  2007
  In 2005, the SPCA made an adoption guarantee commitment to its supporters and to the animals in its care – a guarantee of a forever home to all healthy and behaviorally sound animals.  Read More

• Moving from a Traditional to a No-Kill Shelter

  2007
  Bonney Brown describes her journey of transitioning a traditional humane society into a no-kill facility.  Read More

• The Humane Society of Tampa Bay's New No-Kill Policy

  2004
  The percentage of shelter adoptions nearly doubled after the no-kill policy was implemented, but instead of spending time on euthanasia, staff spend time with individual animals to improve their health and behavior.  Read More

• The End of an Era

  2004
  Preparing the community for a change in policy is an important component of transitioning to no-kill.  Read More

• New Policy Saves all Healthy and Treatable Shelter Pets

  2004
  The Board started planning for a transition when it realized it was no longer acceptable to continue to euthanize one animal simply to make room for another.  Read More

• Richmond’s Road to No-Kill

  2003
  In 1998, The Richmond SPCA adopted a plan to become a no-kill institution, establish a partnership with the local animal control agency, and become a no-kill community.  Read More

• Taking the Community No-Kill

  2001
  Nathan Winograd provides the keys to his success in transitioning the Tompkins County SPCA – and the entire community – to no-kill.  Read More

• San Francisco: The Nation's First Adoption Guarantee City

  2000
  The San Francisco SPCA transitioned to no-kill by building adoption, spay/neuter, and animal behavior programs, giving up the animal control contract, and signing a landmark agreement with animal control in 1994 guaranteeing a loving home for every healthy San Francisco cat and dog.  Read More