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Find out how one rescue put an end to euthanasia.
Near the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip, a gamble is playing out. More than money rides on the line the stakes are literally life and death.
The field of play lies inside a one-story, tan building that sprawls off the side of a quiet, dusty road on the city’s outskirts. It houses an innovative animal shelter that soon might become the first big-city, municipal shelter in the country not to kill any adoptable pets.
The Animal Foundation is the brainchild of Mary Herro, a former real-estate agent turned animal activist. At the foundation’s core is a two-pronged attack against the problem of homeless animals: an aggressive adoption program and a low-cost, high-volume spay/neuter clinic.
Although it has held the municipal animal control contract for the past three years, which meant the shelter has to accept all animals brought in, the foundation said the euthanasia rate for adoptable animals those that aren’t terminally ill, grievously injured or displaying serious behavioral problems is dwindling.
Through the first five months of this year, 84 adoptable dogs had to be euthanized because they either ran out of time the shelter holds animals for 30 days or the shelter ran out of room. That compares with 278 adoptable dogs in all of last year with the average monthly euthanasia rate dropping to 0.9 percent (or 17 dogs per month) from 1.4 percent (or 23 dogs per month). Herro intends for the rate to drop to zero by next year.
The decline is even more impressive compared with the number of animals arriving. Through May, 8,478 animals came through the doors, on pace to break the 1997 total of 19,761.
Rescue Ends Euthanasia in Dogs
Micky, a Golden Retriever mix, learned the hard way: First impressions make a lifetime of difference. The playful 85-pounder went wild the second his cage door swung open to meet visitors who’d considered adopting him. He leaped and knocked them over, mouthing their forearms for attention.
His behavior turned away many people, but the dog didn’t know any better. “When Micky first arrived, he was bouncing off walls,” said Tammy Kirkpatrick, associate director of the special adoptions service at the North Shore Animal League in Port Washington, N.Y. “We re-channeled his hyperness into constructive playing like fetching and leaving tennis balls. We also taught him how to sit on command.”
After two months of training, Micky became a gentleman. When visitors approached his cage, he sat regally on command. His good manners earned him a home with a young couple seeking a playful but obedient dog.
While unruly behavior is the No. 1 reason owners surrender dogs to shelters, many find new homes after shelter staffs, intent on making them more desirable pets, train and socialize them. Former biters, house wreckers, three-legged dogs, old dogs and fat dogs now enjoy happy and healthy lives in caring homes. Animal shelters place more dogs now than a decade ago, experts say. Shelters euthanized 17 million dogs and cats in 1987 and 5 million in 1997, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society of the United States.
Top shelters have discovered ways to close this gap.
Shelters:
- Train dogs in obedience and correct behavior
- Sponsor creative educational outreach programs to attract dog-loving members of the community
- Pre-screen applicants, checking references and ensuring dogs are permitted in their homes, particularly rentals and condos
