The words “no-kill shelter” have been floating around the internet and conversations for a long time. Delaware has even become the first state to have only “no-kill shelters”. But do people actually know what a no-kill shelter is? A “no-kill shelter” typically refers to one that won’t euthanize an animal that is healthy and will keep them until they are adopted, while a “kill shelter” may euthanize animals for reasons other than for the animals’ own wellbeing.

Animals shelters are typically grouped together by “kill shelters” and “no-kill shelters”, making it seem like a black and white label, but the truth is more of a gray area. The moniker “kill shelter” makes it seem like animals are just being murdered there because they can be, and in very rare cases this can be true, but most “kill shelters” are forced to be kill shelters due to a lack of funding and resources, and a lack of people willing to adopt.

Fig. 1 The Animal Shelter I Volunteered At Proudly Displaying Their “NO KILL” Status; Image Credit

The shelter I volunteered at was a no-kill shelter and was very proud of that fact. It could only stay a no-kill shelter due to the high rate of adoption in the area, the funds raised through large corporation donors, and the dedicated volunteers and staff running the shelter. Many shelters do not have these resources, however, and are forced to stay “kill-shelters”, giving them a bad reputation. Kill-shelters are often seen by people as bad places to adopt an animal, and so many people avoid them when looking to adopt, but this only worsens the issue. If people don’t adopt the animals in the kill-shelters, more of the animals there will get euthanized, and the shelter will get even less funding and profits, causing a cycle of harm.

Fig. 2 One of the Cats I Helped with at the Shelter; Image Credit: Author

There is also an unknown side to no-kill shelters. In many places, the definition of a healthy animal that can’t be euthanized in a no-kill shelter only includes non-feral, adult animals, leaving kittens and puppies and feral animals to be legally allowed to be euthanized. People believe that since a shelter is considered a no-kill shelter, they do not euthanize any animals, but this is simply not true. In most no-kill shelters, including mine, they try not to have to euthanize any of the feral or young animals, but when the resources run low (thankfully when I was at my shelter, they never did) the animals pay the price. Private shelters can also refuse to take in any animal they do not feel they can care for, leaving many still on the street or ending up in the overcrowded kill shelters.

There are good sides and bad sides to both types of shelters, but don’t be discouraged about going to either of them to adopt, because without adopters, the animals in these shelters won’t get to find their forever homes.

Most everyone has had a pet at some point in their life, and if they haven’t, then they are guaranteed to have at least met a dog or a cat. Something that I’ve noticed throughout my life is the large emphasis put on where exactly a person got their pet. Dog and cat shows are full of people proud to own purebred pets bought at high prices, and those who got their animals from a shelter almost certainly will mention it if you ask them. But which is better?

Fig 2. My Grandmother’s Cat In the Shelter; Image Credit: Author

Fig 1. My Grandmother’s Cat Out of the Shelter; Image Credit: Author

Personally, I have a large bias due to my experience in a shelter, but I have had pets from both sides before. My past dog was bought from a breeder, but my cat and my grandmother’s cat were from a shelter, so I can see the appeal of both sides to an extent. Both can have good and bad aspects.

The upside to shelter adoption is that without being adopted, the pets most certainly will not live very much longer, as most shelters are kill shelters, but the downside is that you sometimes have no idea the background of the pet and how they will react in different situations. The majority of pets in shelters are adults as well. A lot of people feel the need to get a young puppy or kitten, as they are typically the most appealing, and there just are not many of them in the shelter, and if they are, they get adopted out fast.

Shelter adoption is incredibly important because otherwise more pets will either be homeless or die every year, but buying a puppy or kitten isn’t always bad. If you by a pet from a reputable breeder that you can assure is not abusing the animals, it’s not that bad. Just be careful when choosing a breeder, because puppy mills still exist despite harsh laws against them, and personally I don’t condone animal abuse of any kind.

Fig 3. Puppies from a Breeder; Image Credit

One last thing to note is that adopting from a shelter saves animals that are currently in trouble and buying from a breeder only encourages them to keep breeding more, increasing the number of pets while so many still need homes.

It would be amazing if everyone were to adopt instead of shop, but I can understand the appeals of buying from a breeder. I just hope that everyone buying is looking into where the puppy or kitten came from in order to prevent abuse and neglect from occurring. Adopting is important, as it saves many lives, but buying a pet from a reputable breeder is not the worst thing in the world.

Feral cats are an everyday part of life in many places. Outdoor cats live anywhere they can survive, and it’s likely that everyone has seen a stray at one point in their life. Many people don’t know, however, that feral cats don’t just live by themselves. They often live in colonies where they can provide for one another. The main problem within a cat colony is the fact that every year, more and more kittens will be born, and the population will grow to where it can’t sustain itself. Think about how many outdoor cats you have ever seen, then think about each of those cats having around three to five kittens a year, and then those kittens growing up and having litters of their own the next year. That’s a lot of cats after only two years. This cycle continues every year in many places, and it has become an obvious problem due to both a lack of resources and the mortality rate of young kittens.

Fig. 1 Feral Cat in Humane Trap

The solution to this is simple: a program called Trap-Neuter-Return, or T.N.R. In this program, people or shelters catch feral cats, have them neutered and spayed so they can’t have any more kittens, and then return them back to the colonies in which they were found. This is incredibly important because many kittens born on the street end up not surviving, and the ones that do survive live to have kittens of their own, creating an endless cycle, but T.N.R. can break this cycle by ensuring that no more kittens are born into such an unforgiving environment. T.N.R. also improves the feral cats’ relationships with the humans near them, as neutering and spaying can make the cats healthier and can reduce the nuisance behaviors that oftentimes lead to them being taken away, such as territorial fighting and yowling.

I first learned about this program online, through both the Youtube channels of Kitten Lady, who I mentioned in my last post, and Cat Man Chris. Cat Man Chris (Chris Poole) does a lot of work with rescues of feral kittens and T.N.R. Many of his videos are about the many rescues he has performed over the years, but he also has fun making funny videos about his cats on the channel Cole and Marmalade. Kitten Lady Hannah Shaw also constantly reiterates the importance of T.N.R., as that program can reduce the number of kittens born on the street and needing to be placed in foster care.

Fig. 2 Feral Cat Colony in Philadelphia

As I have mentioned before in previous blogs, I volunteered at an animal shelter for quite some time, and a feral cat colony was living behind the shelter. I saw up close how fearful these cats were of humans and how dedicated the staff were to caring for them. Since these cats had already been neutered and spayed, there were no issues with kittens being born in this colony, but kittens constantly entered the shelter from other stray cats and feral colonies. These kittens could’ve been saved from having to suffer until they got to the shelter if people had known about the T.N.R. program before the kittens were born.

Many dedicated people across the world care for feral cat colonies, and if more people knew about T.N.R, then more cats can be saved from having to suffer on the streets in the future.

Around two years ago, I was browsing on YouTube (as one does), and I discovered a channel called Kitten Lady. I was drawn to this channel by the adorable kittens in the thumbnails but stayed because of the messages Hannah Shaw (Kitten Lady) put in her videos. When you visit an animal shelter, a majority of animals you see are either adults or older puppies and kittens. But where are the youngest ones? The answer is that they are either at a foster, or the shelter just doesn’t have enough resources to take them in, causing them to have to be euthanized or left on the streets. Extremely young kittens take up a lot of resources and time that many shelters just don’t have, and that’s why they depend on fosters to take in these kittens. So many kittens are born on the street every year, and many of them end up not surviving, but the ones that do end up getting to an animal shelter still have struggles to go through to survive.

Fig 1. Kitten Lady (Hannah Shaw) With One of Her Foster Kittens

Kittens between the age of 0-8 weeks need round-the-clock care, sometimes with feedings every two hours at the beginning, and many animal shelters do not have enough employees to be able to care for them, and so many of these vulnerable kittens end up having to be euthanized due to lack of resources. This can be avoided through people agreeing to foster young kittens. Of course, a person needs to be able to dedicate the time to fostering, as you can’t just take a kitten and then not be able to care for it!

Fostering isn’t just solely limited to kittens though. I’m most knowledgeable about kittens and cats as that’s what I have been mainly focused on for the past two years, but dogs and cats of all ages need foster homes due to overcrowding of shelters or special needs of the animal. Sometimes a perfectly friendly pet does not get along with other animals, and has to be euthanized simply because they cannot handle living in a shelter.

Ever since learning about fostering, I’ve always wanted to do it, but of course I’m a college student with no stable income, so it’s going to have to wait a while until I can dedicate my time. Since I was unable to foster kittens during high school, I decided to start volunteering at an animal shelter. Every once in a while, one of the employees would come out of the back room holding a tiny kitten, and I would remember exactly why I was volunteering.

Fig 2. My Cat Soon After He Was Adopted; Image By Author

My cat was a foster kitten, and I always wish I had found out the name or contact info of the people who fostered him, because I will be eternally grateful to them for taking in a vulnerable kitten who ended up growing up into such a loving cat. Learning that my cat was one of those tiny foster kittens on YouTube only fueled my desire to help.

Not everyone is suited for fostering an animal, but if you are able to, I would strongly encourage it. I can’t foster right now, but I desperately wish I could, so instead I will try and spread awareness. Vulnerable kittens and puppies die everyday because there is no one to care for them. If I could foster even one kitten, I would be happy knowing I saved at least one life. A small action can have a large impact.