Humane Society for Hamilton County

he animal welfare world defines “no-kill” in a variety of ways depending on the organization and their respective philosophies on who is considered “adoptable” or not.  Some define “no-kill” based on achieving a 90% “live placement rate.”  That means,    90% of the animals who enter your facility leave alive.  But what about the other 10%?

The philosophy on which the No Kill movement was founded defines truly no kill as saving 100% of the animals in your care who are treatable (medical) or rehabilitatable (behavior)—irrespective of age, breed, special medical needs, or disabilities. Because these particular animals are usually more expensive to save, and take more time to place–they often fall in that 10%.

Please note that No Kill does not mean that animals with untreatable or unmanageable conditions should be allowed to suffer.  Sometimes a peaceful and dignified passing is all we can offer the ones with metastatic cancer or devastating brain/internal injuries.

It is incredibly difficult for any shelter to reach a 90% placement rate. It is even more rare for open admission shelters like ours, who serve as both an animal control facility and humane society, to reach it.

The Humane Society for Hamilton County embraces the truly no-kill philosophy, so we never stopped working until we reached that goal.  We are incredibly proud to share that HSHC has consistently achieved a 98% or higher live placement rate since 2014.  And here are just a few examples of the “10%” we refuse to give up on.