The No Kill Movement

I REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I SAW IT. I was on the half-asleep on the couch in my third-floor apartment in Capitol Hill, when it started. The sweet voice of Sarah McLachlan sang “Angel” while a montage of dejected puppies and kittens flashed across my screen. I won’t lie, I teared up a little bit. Maybe it was my hangover speaking, maybe it was McLachlan’s chord progression, or maybe it’s just because my name is Noah. Regardless, I rescued a puppy later that day.

For more than a century, traditional humane societies followed the “cage and kill” philosophy, taking in all animals and killing the surplus. Because of the history of cruel methods of animal control, these traditional shelters have accepted death as a humane alternative for homeless cats and dogs. And for more than 100 years, these traditional methods did little to eliminate pet overpopulation. Sadly, there are no limits on the number of animals a shelter can kill under Colorado state law, but under most conditions, the law only requires that shelters keep animals for five days before putting them down, in order for owners to have enough time to find lost pets.

The no kill movement, still in its infancy, has challenged the methods of traditional animal sheltering, which for centuries has involved managing pet over- population by killing the surplus of homeless pets. Dedicated to the principle of valuing each individual animal while simultaneously focusing on big picture strategic solutions, the No Kill method is expanding its role in cities and counties across America, and Colorado is slowly coming on board with a majority of our shelters adopting this new philosophy, but it also comes with a cost.

The average cost of care per animal in a shelter is around $250, a burden for shelters that don’t turn animals away. Meanwhile, the sponsors of no kill campaigns say reform is needed so that shelters put animals to death only in the rarest of cases, such as instances where animals are too vicious to handle or could spread diseases. The movement, which could establish a ballot measure in coming years, says a tax on pet shops would raise $6 million to help shelters save more pets from the injection needle.

No kill is a truly admirable goal, but it only works when a community is willing to back it with time and, most importantly, money. Colorado has certainly put its best foot forward these days — we’ve all seen the “adopt a pet” portion of the news, and the trailers out on Sixteenth with a parade of puppies and kittens asking folks to swing by the MaxFund or Dumb Friends League. Colorado is certainly trying, but if citizens don’t take action, no kill can quickly become a thing of the past.