No Kill?
 

I've been looking for about a month for a rescue or animal shelter to volunteer with, and my searching has turned up a "no kill" philosophy. On the surface this sounds great, but I have heard that this is also controversial. I would love to hear what you guys think!

It is controversial because a dog left in a kennel and only let out for 15 minutes a day for years (until somebody finally decides to adopt) is worse than euthanasia. But killing pups when they set paw in the door is obviously very wrong. I lean toward No Kill but believe every rescue should make exceptions to this as needed for the dog's wellbeing.

In an ideal world, a no kill philosophy is what I'd VERY much prefer...but sadly, we don't live in that world where every dog either has a foster home or finds a furever home quickly. The no kill theory can end up hurting certain dogs rather than benefiting them.

I've read a book and articles online and in a magazine that a no kill facility further can mean that kill facilities are so overloaded with dogs a no-kill shelter might refuse(it happens when the no-kill shelters begin to fill up to the rafters, the budget is in the red and an old, very sick/very injured dog, likely un-fosterable(is this a read word?)/un-adoptable dog comes in for consideration and is refused entry) that they are inundated with so many dogs they have to up their daily kill count. Kill shelter workers say sometimes then the very old, very sick dog is just dumped or put down by the owner rather than take him to another facility.

You might want to check what their parameters are for refusing dogs when they are overfull, over budget and a dire case comes in that will require a great deal of expensive medication, vetting, possibly surgery/care or euthanasia or what? You might want to know what their feelings are in those cases and if they take all dogs, their list of foster homes is unlimited to take those kinds of cases that come in and will always take one and all in any condition or have rules about those situations. Otherwise, some kill facility and their budgets and morals will have to deal with those outlier dogs.

Sorry, I forgot to add a huge "Thank you" for wanting to volunteer to work with these wonderful dogs, whatever facility you choose. It's a completely wonderful, completely heartbreaking job at times but all of you who do it are heroes and heroines to me.

I appreciate the replies!

I was really hoping for more opinions on this, especially from those in rescue. Anybody?

I volunteer at a No Kill shelter and we face the challenges everyday that are mentioned above.

We have a number of slots that we can fill and a budget for how many animals we can house. We have to work very hard to keep the animals "moving" (getting them adopted). We have to make sure that 99% of the time we make the right choice with the animal because we have a return policy stating the animal must be returned to us.

We have to make sure we have enough volunteers to clean the shelter, feed the animals, exercise the animals, socialize the animals, work adoptions at the shelter and follow up calls to the adopters (plus every other little task in between like laundry and grooming).

I will be very honest, we are a No Kill shelter but there have been times when an animal has had to be PTS in our care because their overall health was not good and it is the only option for the pet (I will note this is a decision that is made by our Board and staff which includes to registered Vet Tech and a Board Certified Vet).

Is it a lot of work yes, but the rewards of seeing an animal with his/her forever home out weights any of my questions on the work. I am lucky, I am a volunteer I do not have make any of the hard decsions regarding the animals health.

I should ask go ahead and ask any question you have, I will be happy to answer them based on my experience.

I will also warn you, most people I know who volunteer at my shelter end up taking home a dog or cat. It is heartbreaking, it is rewarding, it is annoying as heck when you have a dog who gets on your last nerve with his barking right outside your window when you are trying to get an adoption done.

Would I ever stop doing it and helping our four legged family members? NEVER!!! This is my purpose in life, I have been blessed with a lot of GREAT things and people in my life and this is the best way I know to show thanks and give back.

I joined a rescue group last year when I decided to bring home a pregnant dog. Not needing any more animals it was very stressful for me but at least I did get my DH's approval. On Aug. 31, 2013 Lola delivered 7 beautiful puppies that I know would have died had I not rescued her. I joined a rescue when I took the pups to my vet for their 1st set of shots. I adopted out all of the puppies to very good homes and am in constant contact with all of them. Now I foster and have no regrets what so ever. We are a no kill but I must warn you that you will get very attached to some of the animals so don't be surprised when someone calls you a Foster Failure. I know I am but I will rescue animals until the day I die. And..P.S. Lola is doing very well at home with us.

I work at a no- kill shelter and I immensely enjoy it. If a dog is there for a long time (over a year) they try to find a foster or try and find some other option for them. Unfortunately with cats it's not the same, we have a cat that has been at the shelter it's whole life, for six years, but she has a whole room to roam in and is very loved so I dunno. It is hard because they are no kill we have to wait until animals are adopted before we take in more so we do often turn people away but we try and give them resources and help. On the whole I think most of them are doing a good thing. Maybe go visit a few shelters in your area and see how you like it. I know a lot of our volunteers love helping us and the animals out, it can be very rewarding.