A Message From The Shelter Manager
I
have had a few questions about this so I thought it would be
helpful if I explained exactly what an “Adoption Guarantee Shelter” is
and why it's a more appropriate term for the SCSPCA. In the past the
SPCA has been referred to as a “No-Kill” shelter but we feel that that
is an inappropriate name for what we do at the shelter.
First we feel
the term “No-Kill” is detrimental to our relationship with municipal
shelters, which by the “No-Kill” logic would be referred to as “Kill”
shelters. The very term seems to create friction between “No-Kill” and
“Kill” shelters for very obvious reasons! It is important to understand
that sometimes it is an
unfortunate necessity. There are simply too many unwanted animals for available community resources such as: space, time, money and
adoptive homes.
Access to Low Cost Spay/Neuter clinics is one of the
biggest ways to reduce pet overpopulation - but unfortunately there is
not always funding for those programs. So the problem is too many
animals and not enough space for them.
At
the SPCA we have the luxury of only taking animals when we have
available space for them which is why we are able to hold animals for
longer periods of time, giving them more opportunities to get adopted. Municipal shelters simply don’t have this luxury - they are contracted by cities
and counties and must take all stray animals that come through their
doors. In order to make space for the incoming animals they are often
forced to euthanize animals that have been there longer periods of
time. While each shelter operates in a different way, their goal is
similar - to place as many animals as possible into appropriate homes as
quickly as possible.
We
work with municipal shelters, not against them. We are trying to
eradicate the idea that one type of shelter is the “good” guy while the
other is the “bad” guy. We often transfer animals from municipal
shelters to help “lighten their load” so to speak.
Another
reason we feel the term “no-kill” is inappropriate is because it seems to mean
that no animal is ever euthanized - which is not true. Some animals that
come into the shelter that do not meet our standards for adoption
because these animals are so severely under socialized, poorly bred or
in need of such extensive medical treatment that we do not feel our
available resources are adequate to safely or humanly place these
animals into pet homes. We also don't feel that it's fair for an animal
to spend the remainder of his or her life confined to a cement run or
cage with little human interaction. In cases where animals are a danger
to people or other animals we don't feel that it would be responsible
to place these animals back into the public. We are all too often
forced to make the very difficult decision to euthanize animals that
come into our shelter and do not meet predefined adoption standards.
On the positive side
Animals
that are behaviorally sound and healthy will have as much time as they
need to find an adoptive home. Occasionally, when an animal has been at
the shelter longer than average, we may place that animal with a foster
based rescue group so that he or she may receive more personalized care.
We guarantee the adoption of every animal that is considered
adoptable into an appropriate home, which is why we feel the term
“Adoption Guarantee” more accurately fits our organization.
