Collaborating to save more cats and dogs

It’s going to take all of us working together to bring the country to no-kill in 2025. That's why Best Friends collaborates with partner shelters in a variety of ways, including providing resources and support plus celebrating their good news.

From a spay/neuter milestone to bringing play to adoptable pets, here’s a roundup of good news tales from Best Friends Network Partners.

At the Spay Neuter Veterinary Clinic of the Sandhills in Fayetteville, North Carolina, it’s about location and numbers. When the high-volume, low-cost clinic paired up with Cumberland County Animal Services, staff celebrated the milestone of spaying or neutering 2,000 cats.

When 60 boxer dogs from a single property came to MSPCA-Angell near Boston, Massachusetts, the shelter launched a Herculean effort to ready the dogs for adoption. Through a fee-waived adopt-a-thon, 50 of the dogs were matched with new homes and are thriving, according to Sara-Rose Brenner of MSPCA-Angell. The shelter hopes to find homes for the remaining 10 in another special adoption event.

Applesauce was found on the side of the road near Alpharetta, Georgia, with multiple broken bones. Staff at the county shelter searched for a rescue group to save Applesauce, and Planned PEThood of Georgia, which focuses on medically fragile cases from shelters, stepped up to provide her with the intensive medical care she needed. After multiple reconstructive surgeries, Applesauce is ready for adoption and looking for a lap to warm.

The Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association (KCHA) in West Virginia takes its dogs to playgroups 365 days a year, regardless of weather, according to executive director Bethany Hively. And Bethany is passionate about helping other shelters start playgroups. KCHA worked with nearby Humane Society of Parkersburg to train staff on best practices, safety protocols, and matching dogs based on play style. Gary McIntire, Parkersburg’s executive director, raves about playgroups for fearful dogs, saying they greatly improve the likelihood of a speedy adoption.

George and Little Miss Muffet are two kittens featured on volunteer Anita Walker’s social media channels, which she uses to get animals adopted from Metro Nashville Animal Care and Control in Tennessee. Anita even gets all gussied up in country western gear to help promote pets in the shelter. At last count, she had nearly 86,000 TikTok followers.

This article was originally published in the November/December 2024 issue of Best Friends magazine. Want more good news? Become a member and get stories like this six times a year.

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill in 2025. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.