"The Public" wants no kill success

Seagoville, TX is a small community of about 11,000 people that is a suburb of Dallas.

Until last November, the shelter in this community killed an average of 70 dogs per month. But in November, the city's police department took over the shelter, and turned the gas chamber into a storage bin fo donated dog food. The city has been 100% No Kill since then.  "I just have a real problem putting down healthy and adoptable animals when they can find a good home and be part of a family that wil take care of them," said Sgt. Karl Baily.

But last week, things began getting a little tense. The shelter, which had a capacity for 25 dogs had gotten up to 55 crowded inside.  The shelter had to find homes for 22 dogs by Monday, or the shelter's no kill status would over.

So what did the shelter do? 

They held three off-site adoption events over the weekend -- at a grocery store, at the local tractor supply company, and at a local Walgreens, and, of course, at their shelter - and they went to the media to get some free promotion for the events.

The net result was that 15 pets were adopted on Saturday -- meaning the shelter would likely be able to remain no kill afterall. By last night, all but 8 of the dogs had been adopted. So while they needed 22 dogs to be adopted, they found homes for 47. 

The success in Seagoville shows the success that comes by embracing the public and their willingness to adopt animals, they were able to remain no kill -- instead of simply blaming them for the animals being in the shelter in the first place and killing them instead.

"The Public" generally loves animals --and want to help save them. By promoting the animals, embracing their desire to support your mission, and holding off-site adoption events, shelters can make positive steps toward their no kill goals. It's not a pipe dream -- it's happening -- in cities across the country. 

Comments

[KateH]

That's just awesome! It just takes a spine to stand up for what's right. Too bad so many seem to have problems finding theirs.

[Toocutedobs]

Thanks so much for this wonderful tale. I hope one day to see our local shelters have such success!

[MichelleD]

OK, the ignorant comments posted after the actual news article are pretty scary.

[Angeloncalldog Rescue]

The public also needs to understand, that to stop the killing, the near endless litters of puppies need to stop. The pet population has and is exploding.

[Brent]

Angel -- actually, shelter populations are much smaller than they have been historically as spay/neuter has become the expectation, not the exception. Yes, s/n compliance is important, but at this point, probably less important than adoption as compliance is very high. The public, who are our adopters, need to be embraced in how they can help, instead of blamed for the problem.

[Judith]

Can we give Houston a kick in the butt to consider same? People are beginning to see the light. Yes, there are still those who do reprehensible things,but it has to begin with us changing and demanding change from the officials who make the rules. Please do not relent on the SPCA of Houston, BARC of Houston and other such institutions that see killing as the only option even if they deny it is so.

[Lindsay]

Great story! Thanks, Brent, for sharing. Nice example of how willing the public is to help. The public is not the problem.

[sunrisewise]

How wonderful that someone with a fresh prospective said no to killing and saved these animals lives!!
The public is not the problem,convinience killing by shelter directors who very often make over a 100k a year paid by our tax dollars is !!! If they get paid so handsomely they need to do their jobs! Find solutions other then killing!!! It is our job as the concerned public to hold them accountable !!! If there was such rampant overpopulation then puppy mills Iwould not be making millions by producing more dogs! There is many a shelter dog I have tried to save and had prospective owners attempt to adopt but when they tried to contact the shelter,all they got was the run around and their calls went unreturned.about half of these people that would have adopted gave up ended up going to a breeder!!! The public's fault ? I think not!

[Susan Blatz]

Love the "can do" attitude, and they did!

[Dawn]

MAJOR props to Seagoville, TX Police Department. You are heroes!

[Sharyl Terhall]

how did you get the police dept invovled? we need help in Collin Co

[Jill]

Thanks so much for following our story and even more for supporting us loud and clear!!! KC rocks!! And I know because I am a midwestern girl and used to live there!!!

Next time I'm in town I would love to come by the shelter and donate some time, food, and whatever they need!!!!

[Brent]

Thanks for the good work Jill...and you are welcome to come visit us any time!

[gretchen]

It's obvious that the group in Seagoville is working really hard to make positive changes for the animals in their shelter and are saving a lot of lives. However, their "100% no-kill" is based on the animals that they consider to be adoptable, not live outcomes for all animals. I have no reason to believe that they are playing games with the definition of "adoptability", like so many shelters do, but they don't publish their stats anywhere, so it's hard to know for sure.