Entering a shelter should not be a death sentence for any healthy animal, or those with treatable illnesses and injuries. 

• Both state and federal legislation must: 
  1) hold animal control facilities accountable 
  2) support shelters that need help especially those in rural areas with limited resources.

1) No animal should be killed based on their "behavior" in a stressful, unfamiliar environment. 

When dogs have to share kennels because of limited space, it can exacerbate the situation to the extreme with tragic outcomes: injuries and, worse, when animals are euthanized because they were forced into circumstances through no fault of their own.

If the only option is sharing kennel space, shelters must be required to monitor kennels 24 hours a day with a focus on the ones shared by multiple animals.

Every animal must be well-fed, regardless of their kennel situation. But it is even more crucial to mitigate any issues with food aggression that can lead to conflict with kennelmates.

Adequate nutrition that maintains their weight upon arrival in the case of healthy, adult animals of a normal weight for their size and breed is a minimum standard. Those who have not yet reached their adult weight, are sick, pregnant or nursing must be required to receive additional nutritional support. 

Shelter space must be prioritized for the use of additional, life-saving kennels whether shared or not.

One person present at all times - 24/7 - is not an option. It is a necessity for the health and safety of the animals - protecting them from everything from break-ins after hours to an overnight birth that becomes an emergency.

2) No animal should be killed for a treatable illness or injury.

Even seniors in declining health should be given every possible chance to spend their remaining time - whether it's weeks, months, years - or even days - in the care of a rescue or a compassionate adopter.

"Rescue only" status should be prohibited as a barrier to adopters willing and able to provide the medical care they need.

Thorough screening of adopters and reference checks can give the animals who need it most - those with health issues - a chance to leave the shelter alive.

3) No animal should be left to die alone in a shelter without anyone even knowing their name.

Social media has been a critical lifeline for millions of animals. 

Every shelter should be required to maintain an active presence on multiple platforms. 

Animal advocates network daily on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and other social media to find life-saving adopters, fosters and rescues. 

Shelters must provide quality photos, details (age, gender, any known history, etc.) with assessments and updates of each animal in their care to facilitate these efforts.

Shelters must be required to maintain active email lists of interested rescues, networkers, and adopters. They must send frequent updates on animals especially those at risk who show any signs of illness, injury or kennel stress including depression or other behavioral changes.

4) No animal should die in a shelter when they have a rescue willing to help, or an adopter willing to give them a home - even if they are hundreds of miles away.

Assistance from shelters is essential in transport of animals to rescues in other areas of the state or the country that are willing to save lives and alleviate the burden on an often overwhelmed local rescue community.

Cooperation with committed adopters outside the vicinity can multiply the options for shelter animals especially in disadvantaged communities.

Above all, no adopter should be denied the opportunity to save lives because of their zip code.

5) Every animal deserves the chance to live - whether they are "adoptable" or not.

The sad reality is that many animals are never given the chance to show their true personality in a facility where they feel only fear or rejection.

Shelters must be required to provide animals in their care with the one-on-one attention they need not only for emotional but also physical health.

Dogs must be given ample time to exercise and interact with other dogs in an outdoor environment whenever possible.

6) No animal should be "euthanized" that wants to live.

This life-ending, irrevocable act must be an absolute, last resort. It must be reserved only for those in extreme pain or discomfort that cannot be relieved by medication or surgery with no hope of recovery. 

In true cases of euthanasia, the animal's medical condition must be documented in detail with test results and other subjective, specific data.

"Declining health" or other vague terminology is not enough. Without accountability and guardrails, "euthanasia" becomes only a pretty, more palatable word that denies what is really happening: Killing an animal that does not want to die.

Animals most at risk must be provided with necessary medical care until a rescue can be found. Shelters must have access to veterinary care, either in-house or on contract.

Animals should not be sentenced to death because of where they live.

Shelters in rural or economically disadvantaged areas with inadequate local resources must have state and/or federal funding to fill this critical void.

7) No animal should be born only to be killed.

Shelters and rescuers must be given the state and federal funding needed to create and expand spay and neuter programs.

That includes training and working with community groups and individuals in TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) efforts.

If mandatory spay and neuter cannot be legislated and enforced with pet owners, we have to use every incentive possible to encourage it: Free spay/neuter events with prizes, low-cost vouchers, tax credits, marketing campaigns as examples.

Both state and federal funding can help make spay and neuter programs the life-saving difference between kill and no-kill.

And it's far more cost effective - and humane - than the daily care for weeks or even months of an animal who, ultimately, loses his or her life in a shelter.

Our animals enrich our lives, comfort the sick, give purpose to seniors, and heal the war-scarred hearts of veterans.

Other animals serve their communities and their country, sometimes sacrificing their own lives in that service.

Please support much-needed change for these animals who ask for so little, and who have done so much for us.

Sign, share and spread the word - please!
Let's make kill shelters history.