February 2015 by Michael and Pam Kitkoski

Audience: Executive Leadership, Shelter/Rescue Staff & Volunteers

Video Length: 83 minutes

This presentation, given by Michael and Pam Kitkoski at the American Pets Alive! 2015 No-Kill Conference, discusses how Rockwall Pets has taken two municipal open-admission shelters to no-kill status in Rockwall County. Each shelter required a different tactic. Learn how it's possible to convince a shelter to go no-kill as a volunteer on the inside, as a rescue group from the outside or by being a consultant to other communities. There's more than one way to get it done!

About Michael and Pam Kitkoski

Pam and Michael founded Rockwall Pets, a Texas-based No Kill advocacy group, in 2010. Using different tactics, first as shelter volunteers/advocates and later as a rescue group, Rockwall Pets led both municipal shelters in Rockwall County to No-Kill status by 2012. The save rate at both shelters now exceeds 96%. During that time, they developed a unique retail approach to pet adoptions.

In response to the rapidly-growing interest in No-Kill among municipal shelters in north Texas, Michael and Pam spun off Rockwall Pets in 2014 and founded a new organization, No Kill Solutions, as a consulting and advocacy group. North Texas now has at least seven shelters that have achieved No-Kill or are working toward it. Along with Dr. Ellen Jefferson and Ryan Clinton, Michael and Pam were instrumental in launching Dallas Pets Alive! in 2012. Michael received the Henry Bergh Leadership Award from the No-Kill Advocacy Center in 2011.