Is It Enough To Be No-Kill?

It would be hard to argue against the idea of a no-kill shelter, and I have no intention of doing that … especially when you consider the flip side.

Is there anyone who supports high-kill?

Maddie’s Fund defines no-kill as “saving both healthy and treatable dogs and cats, with euthanasia reserved only for unhealthy and untreatable animals.”

Of course, what constitutes “untreatable” is a whole other discussion. An animal might have an untreatable illness, but the line gets extremely blurry when it comes to behavior. Who and what determines whether a dog’s behavior has crossed the line to the point where he’s considered “untreatable”?

Again, that’s a discussion for another blog, another day!

What I want to focus on here is what it takes to be not just a no-kill shelter, but a good, responsible, committed, doing-right-by-the-animals no-kill shelter.

Typically, a shelter can call itself no-kill when it saves more than 90% of its animals.

That 90% might be adopted, transferred to a rescue group or a no-kill shelter, reclaimed by their owners, or still living at the shelter.

And that’s what I really want to address: The ones who are still at the shelter after a year. Or two. Or five.

Because there’s a difference between existing and living.

Dogs need to be able to run, chase, chew, bark and dig. They are social creatures by nature, and they need interaction with people and (most of the time) other dogs in order to thrive.

When they’re deprived of these things, they’re robbed of their unique ability to “be a dog.” Worse, they often deteriorate physically, mentally and behaviorally.

Imagine if you’re being kept in a small prison cell — the size of an elevator, let’s say — for years on end. You receive little or no exercise, mental stimulation, or social interaction.

Is that a life? Or is it just an existence?

Dogs in no-kill shelters where they’re deprived of socialization, stimulation and good, hard exercise commonly exhibit all kinds of stress-related behaviors. No surprise, right?

They might:

• Lunge at the door of their cages whenever anyone passes by.
• Develop “aggressive” behaviors toward other dogs, as well as people.
• Spin in their kennel.
• Climb the walls (literally) in a repetitive pattern.
• Drool heavily.
• Hide in the back of the kennel or under their bed.
• Bark incessantly.
• Urinate and defecate in their kennel.
• Stop eating — or guard whatever they are given to eat.
• Become physically ill.

There’s more, but that’s enough for now. You get the idea.

And here’s the thing: It doesn’t have to be that way!

A shelter certainly isn’t the ideal environment for an animal to live in, but there is so much that can be done to reduce a dog’s stress and keep him sane and sound during his stay.

These activities don’t necessarily require money, space, or time. All they take is a commitment to do right by the animals.

Best Friends offers a variety of enrichment activities on their website, as do many other animal welfare organizations. Karen Pryor, a founder of clicker training, offers a course in Shelter Training and Enrichment at her academy. Google “animal shelter enrichment” and you’ll find a lot to keep you busy.

The bottom line is that it’s great to create a shelter that’s no-kill — a great start, that is.

But it’s not nearly enough.

Being kept alive is entirely different from living.

The animals in these shelters are counting on us to do right by them. Are we?

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

DogsHome: Providing shelter, training and love