What no-kill really means

We will achieve no-kill by 2025

No kill can be thought about in two ways. it’s a common-sense benchmark and a community ethic. The benchmark serves the core, but more difficult to quantify, ethical goal of saving the life of every dog and cat that can be saved.

A 90% save rate for animals entering a shelter is a meaningful and common-sense benchmark for measuring lifesaving progress.

Typically, the number of pets who are suffering from irreparable medical or behavioral issues that compromise their quality of life and prevent them from being rehomed is not more than 10% of all dogs and cats entering shelters.

We designate shelters meeting the 90% save-rate benchmark as no-kill.

The core goal, however, is that every shelter has the resources and community support it needs to save every dog and cat that can be saved. It means homeless pets are adopted into loving homes. It means providing medical care to animals that can be healed, identifying and addressing behaviors that can be treated and prioritizing safety and a high quality of life for animals and people in our communities. It means that compassionate shelter workers have to euthanize an animal only when that animal is suffering from a irreparable medical or dangerous behavioral condition.

Our big audacious goal is that every shelter in every community will reach the no-kill-benchmark by 2025.

Together, we helped LA achieve the no-kill benchmark!

After many challenging, life-changing years of working to take the city of Los Angeles from a place where only 57% of dogs and cats were making it out of shelters alive to the biggest no-kill city in America, NKLA (No-Kill Los Angeles) Coalition and animal lovers throughout the city have succeeded in boosting the city over the no-kill threshold.