Many people assume, but don’t know what a no-kill animal shelter is. It doesn’t mean that every animal taken in comes out alive, although that’s the goal.

It’s a question shelters are asked most often "is this a no-kill shelter?"

So, what is it and what do shelters do to keep animals alive?

Steven Martinez, Executive Director of the York County SPCA was on The SparkFriday and defined what a no-kill shelter is,"You have to have a 90% or better save rate, right? 90% or better say rate. So it is save rate. It says that of all the animals that come in alive in a given year, in that same year, how many have a life outcome? So all the animals that come in alive in a given year, how many have a live outcome?"

Martinez indicated there are only certain reasons to euthanize an animal,"The first one is for health. So the health of the animal is beyond repair, and modern medicine can't bring that animal back. And so it'd be a humane euthanasia. Right. And that's a medical call. And it tends to be a little bit more black and white. But the other reason that would you could euthanize an animal still receive that classification is no-kill is called a behavioral euthanasia. And that's the hardest part of our job is making those calls. It's the toughest part. But because of the work that we do, like we, for instance, we investigate and prosecute animal cruelty offenders, right? We've got a police officer on staff who enforces the cruelty neglect statutes. And so you're going to get animals out of some situations that are pretty hard to think about. And we rehabilitate, rehabilitate nearly every single one of those animals and put them up for adoption. But every once in a while, you get an animal that there's just there's just they're too far gone. Right. And so we are that's the hardest part of our job."

Many people assume, but don’t know what a no-kill animal shelter is. It doesn’t mean that every animal taken in comes out alive, although that’s the goal.
It’s a question shelters are asked most often "is this a no-kill shelter?"
So, what is it and what do shelters do to keep animals alive?
Steven Martinez, Executive Director of the <a href="https://ycspca.org/">York County SPCA</a> was on The Spark Friday and defined what a no-kill shelter is,"You have to have a 90% or better save rate, right? 90% or better say rate. So it is save rate. It says that of all the animals that come in alive in a given year, in that same year, how many have a life outcome? So all the animals that come in alive in a given year, how many have a live outcome?"
Martinez indicated there are only certain reasons to euthanize an animal,"The first one is for health. So the health of the animal is beyond repair, and modern medicine can't bring that animal back. And so it'd be a humane euthanasia. Right. And that's a medical call. And it tends to be a little bit more black and white. But the other reason that would you could euthanize an animal still receive that classification is no-kill is called a behavioral euthanasia. And that's the hardest part of our job is making those calls. It's the toughest part. But because of the work that we do, like we, for instance, we investigate and prosecute animal cruelty offenders, right? We've got a police officer on staff who enforces the cruelty neglect statutes. And so you're going to get animals out of some situations that are pretty hard to think about. And we rehabilitate, rehabilitate nearly every single one of those animals and put them up for adoption. But every once in a while, you get an animal that there's just there's just they're too far gone. Right. And so we are that's the hardest part of our job."

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at https://witf.org/programs/the-spark.

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from <a href="https://www.witf.org">WITF</a>, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

The Spark

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

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