What does “no-kill” mean?
There are so many interpretations of “no-kill”. What is a no-kill sanctuary anyway?
The clinical definition of the term means that no animal who can be saved is killed.
So if you are no-kill you don’t kill any animals because you’re out of space. You don’t kill them because they are ill (and because it might be expensive, or difficult, to care for them). You don’t kill them because they are elderly or more difficult to adopt. You don’t kill them because they are a certain breed and you don’t like that breed or have “too many” of that breed already in your kennel.
It means that no healthy (treatable) animal is killed. Ever. If you follow those guidelines then you are considered “no kill”.
Now there are different interpretations of the term “adoptable” though and even “healthy”.
Some shelters that are “no-kill” DO kill because the animal is severely aggressive. That is considered “not adoptable”, especially if it is behavioral or medical in nature – and therefore considered that it can not be fixed. Perhaps something such as a tumor or something else that causes the animal to act this way, something that can not be trained out of them.
Filed in No-kill by kerry on Jan 03, 2010. There are 11 comments.