A Larger Lens on this Animal Crisis

The animal crisis in this country is continuing to grow.

And that's evident all over the place.

You don't need me to tell you that.

But there are glimmers of hope.

And there's more talk of providing spay-neuter funding and availability.

And innovative ideas are being tried as shelters explore new models of fostering.

And there's a focus on pet retention programs and educating adopters.

But maybe most importantly, more people are speaking up about how no-kill has been usurped and misinterpreted as simply a number, which has incentivized all kinds of bad practices that are actually making our crisis worse, not better.

Now, none of the organizations that have pushed for no-kill meant for us to land where we are.

But until they set down their bar of 90%, we will continue to spiral backward.

I personally would love to see these big animal welfare organizations that have money, talented staff, and a passionate following use them to create shelter practices that truly serve the community.

I mean, they've got everything they need.

They just need to focus it on the right things.

The longer that no-kill continues to be judged as 90%, we're going to continue to be dragged backwards in terms of true animal welfare as more animals are left to the streets or endless years inside a kennel.