#NoKill

Mike Fry

May 27, 2019

The Huntsville No Kill Story Premieres June 1, 2019

No Kill Learning is excited to announce the premiere of the second in our "Boots on the Ground" mini-series, where we visit No Kill communities from across the USA to talk to the people in those communities who made No Kill happen. The Huntsville No Kill Story premieres on YouTube on Saturday, June 1 at 7 PM Central time (8PM Eastern, 6 PM Mountain and 5 PM Pacific). Those who have seen the first in the series, about the success in Lake County, Florida, may be surprised at so

Mike Fry

Apr 27, 2019

Coming Soon: Huntsville No Kill Story

In 2008, the City of Huntsville, Alabama's animal control shelter destroyed more than 7,000 dogs and cats. Ten years later, in 2018, they euthanized only 300. Boots on the Ground, the second in our mini-series, tells the story from the perspective of the No Kill advocates there who made it happen. Premiere to be announced soon. Until then, you can watch the trailer below. #bootsontheground #huntsville #NoKill #video

No Kill Learning

Feb 9, 2019

Watch: Getting to No Kill

"The No Kill Movement is sweeping the country. And we should all be really excited about it! This map shows all of the places in the USA where all of the animal shelters have stopped killing healthy or treatable pets, which is great news, because not that long ago, there weren’t any of those.Today, there are more than 140 cities and counties where all of the shelters are No Kill. But, what does that mean? How did they do it? And what’s taking all of the other shelters so long

Mike Fry

Dec 20, 2018

Only by Telling the Truth Can the Truth be Changed

The year was 1999 and I had already been advocating for No Kill sheltering for many years. There was much I did not understand at the time and things I believed that turned out to not be true, and reflecting back on those days helps put the entire No Kill Movement into a clearer perspective for me. A pivotal moment in my life happened when I was helping to coordinate a conference at the University of Minnesota on the topic of "pet overpopulation," which, it turns out, isn't r

Advocate: 'It is really sad they never tried this hard to save lives'

No Kill Learning

Dec 6, 2018

Advocate: 'It is really sad they never tried this hard to save lives'

In Pueblo, Colorado, the old guard has tried desperately to cling to power as the No Kill timeline kept moving forward. There is much we can learn from this. On Monday, December 3, 2018 the City Council of Pueblo, Colorado voted to award a 3-year contract to Paws for Life, a No Kill animal shelter, to run the City's animal shelter and animal control operations. Prior to the vote, the Humane Society of Pikes Peak Region had held the contract for about 18 years. What prompted t

Traditional Animal Shelters: You're Invited to the Party!

No Kill Learning

Sep 27, 2018

Traditional Animal Shelters: You're Invited to the Party!

In my decades of work in the No Kill Movement, one thing has always struck me as odd: why do traditional animal shelters resist the transition to No Kill? I have sat and watched as animal shelters and national organizations that profess to be concerned with the welfare of animals have continually resisted basic reforms that would save more animals' lives. And, they have often done so in fairly hostile and aggressive ways. And, as shocking as that may be, it is even more sta

No Kill and Other "New" Technologies and Why Some Have Yet to Adopt Them

Mike Fry

Sep 29, 2017

No Kill and Other "New" Technologies and Why Some Have Yet to Adopt Them

Anyone who has followed the constant release of new smart phones from companies like Apple and Samsung knows that different people adopt new technologies at different speeds. There are those who absolutely "must have" the latest and greatest iPhone, while others are still carrying around old flip phones. The field of animal sheltering is no different. There are shelters that represent the early adopters of new technologies, in other words, the pioneering leaders in the indust

Flipping the No Kill Switch in Lake County, Florida

Mike Fry

Aug 28, 2017

Flipping the No Kill Switch in Lake County, Florida

Photo: The Bell of New Beginnings hangs in the lobby of the Lake County Animal Shelter. Each time an adoption occurs, staff there ring the bell. The bell is a symbol of a new beginning for each new pet adopted. It is also a representation of a whole new beginning for this shelter. On January 15, 2017 new leaders took the keys to the municipal animal shelter in Lake County, Florida and walked into the building with a new staff and a new mission: save the lives of every healthy

Engaging the Community in No Kill Discussions Can Smash Through Obstacles to Success

Mike Fry

Jul 30, 2017

Engaging the Community in No Kill Discussions Can Smash Through Obstacles to Success

Whether it was Austin, Texas; Reno, Nevada; Lake County, Florida or Huntsville, Alabama, one factor contributed to No Kill advocates successfully getting buy-in for the life-saving programs generally known as the No Kill Equation: They actively and effectively engaged their entire community in the No Kill discussion. Doing so, and doing it well, is essential for success, because there are many obstacles to success, many of which No Kill advocates don't understand when they fi

The Cat is Out of the Bag: No Kill Pretenders Signs of No Kill Progress

Mike Fry

Sep 20, 2016

The Cat is Out of the Bag: No Kill Pretenders Signs of No Kill Progress

Reflecting back on my 20 or so years of No Kill advocacy, one thing keeps coming to mind: Shortly after the movement began gaining steam, when impromptu No Kill groups began popping up around the USA, and when more communities began achieving No Kill success, a friend and coworker made an interesting prediction. That prediction came from Beth Nelson, co-host and producer of the Animal Wise Radio program. She suggested that the people involved in the No Kill Movement should be

Dear Shelters: Healthy Free-Roaming Cats Don't Need Rescue

Mike Fry

May 12, 2016

Dear Shelters: Healthy Free-Roaming Cats Don't Need Rescue

A regular parade of healthy free-roaming cats visit the catnip plants in my garden every day. These felines are happy and content and don't need animal shelters to "rescue" them. While No Kill continues gaining momentum across the country, some opponents keep arguing against it. One of the most unusual, and in many ways dishonest, arguments against No Kill comes in the form of equating No Kill to “limited admission.” People who use this approach to cast disfavor on No Kill sa

Casey's Big Adventure And What We Can Learn From It

Mike Fry

Jan 18, 2016

Casey's Big Adventure And What We Can Learn From It

Casey couldn't have picked a worse day to discover the latch to the gate of his fenced yard had broken, and then decide to go off exploring. The evening before, temperatures, not counting wind-chill, had dipped to sixteen degrees below zero. By morning, when Casey made off for his adventure, it had warmed up a bit. But, it was still below zero, with bitter wind that was pushing the wind-chill to below -20 degrees. Outside, in Minnesota it was not fit for man nor beast, nor se

No Kill Comes in Many Flavors - Create Your Own in 2016

Mike Fry

Jan 1, 2016

No Kill Comes in Many Flavors - Create Your Own in 2016

Whether it comes about as the result of thoughtful, pragmatic planning or through sudden, inspirational change, No Kill is a recipe to which shelters add their own spice to create their own, unique variety of it. Some are dramatic, hot and vibrant. Others are mellow and mild. Some No Kill initiatives took years of simmering and stirring before jelling into the final product. Others come to life quickly, like a pot full of popcorn that results from a dramatic series of energet

The 'Division' in Animal Sheltering and What it Means for the Coming Year

Mike Fry

Dec 14, 2015

The 'Division' in Animal Sheltering and What it Means for the Coming Year

Even as some people involved in animal sheltering complained about a growing divide in the industry, 2015 turned out to be a year of exciting changes in US animal shelters as No Kill continued to advance. A growing number of animal shelters embraced reforms and have experienced record-level life saving this year. Even in places like Huntsville, Alabama, where the director of their animal control shelter had, not that many years ago, a Live Release Rate (LRR) of just over 30%,

Mike Fry

Sep 15, 2015

Why 5-Year Plans Fail

Nathan Winograd recently reminded us all via his Facebook Page that it has been more than 12 years since the City of Los Angeles promised to be No Kill within five years. That pledge happened in 2003. Now, in 2015, Los Angeles is still killing nearly half of the cats that come to the shelter, and about 25% of all animals collectively. The fact that Los Angeles has repeatedly missed their much-advertised "No Kill" date is, unfortunately, not unique. It is the norm for these hi

No Kill Movement - One Part Revolution, One Part Renaissance

Mike Fry

Aug 1, 2015

No Kill Movement - One Part Revolution, One Part Renaissance

The no kill movement in the Unites States has frequently been described as a revolution. However, recently, as I was walking through the Galleria degli Uffizi (Uffizi Gallery) in Florence, Italy, it occurred to me it is as much a Renaissance as it is a revolution. If you have not been to the Uffizi, it is hard to describe the place. It is among Europe's oldest and most famous art galleries. To get there, you must usually walk through some of the oldest and most historic sit

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