Delaware is a wonderful haven for cats and dogs! The small Mid-Atlantic U.S. state has become the first and only no-kill state for shelter animals in the United States. Simply put, even when the shelter is full, the no-kill animal shelter in Delaware does not kill healthy or treatable animals.
The good news is that America now has its first no-kill state—Delaware. The First State is being recognized as a no-kill state as its animal shelters have a 92.9 percent save rate. In other words, in the 59 no-kill shelters around Delaware, 11,900 cats and dogs of the approximately 12,800 were saved rather than killed.
“When every shelter in a community achieves a 90 percent save rate for all cats and dogs, that community is designated as no-kill,” the non-profit Best Friends Animal Society states on its website. The non-profit gives the meaning of “saved” as pets that “are returned to their owners or provided with expert care and safe places to call home.”
The 10 percent euthanasia rate is only for pets “who are suffering from irremediable medical or behavioral issues that compromise their quality of life and prevent them from being rehomed.”
Brandywine Valley SPCA has three locations in Delaware and has initiated various programs to ensure 95 percent of animals that enter its shelters find homes, like implementing the practice known as trap, neuter, and return (TNR) to save community felines. Through the program TNR, cats are humanely trapped and brought to veterinarians for spaying or neutering, and subsequently released.
Other programs include providing free vaccine clinics, a pet pantry, and an emergency veterinary fund to stop families facing financial difficulties from surrendering their pets to the animal shelters, open adoptions that aren’t time-intensive, and hosting “mega-adoption events” each year.
“They are weekendlong events where we adopt out over a thousand animals in two days,” Torelli said. “It’s an amazing experience. It’s really something to see.”
Animal shelters all across the United States have an average save rate of 76.6 percent. Shelters in Texas and California have the lowest save rates of under 75 percent.
Best Friends Animal Society aims to reach no-kill status all across shelters in the United States by 2025.
“All communities have something unique about them and each community has unique challenges as it relates to achieving no-kill,” said Sizemore. “However, with about 4,300 no-kill communities across the U.S. achieving the no-kill benchmark, we know that it can be done.”
To accomplish no-kills status in every shelter, Best Friends is encouraging people to adopt instead of buying their pets, promoting sterilization and providing spay/neuter resources and hosting lifesaving programs around the country such as super adoptions, Strut Your Mutt, and the Best Friends National Conference.
Please do your part to save them all, helping your state become no-kill.
