Managing Behavior Challenges in the No Kill Model

by Keri Buscaglia | Apr 30, 2014

Gold Star Dogs Special Rescue Pups and the Program that Helps to Find Them Homes

The No Kill movement is grounded in one major tenet: preservation of life. Despite the proven success of No Kill, many private shelters continue to operate in failed models of the past where killing is an acceptable population management tool. But that is slowly changing. 

PAWS Chicago continues to develop its No Kill Model as a guide for shelters and communities, showing that No Kill can be successfully scaled to care for large number of animals, while every pet is given the individualized care needed for quality of life. 

The foundation of the No Kill Model is a community coming together to support four pillars: a robust adoption program to unite homeless pets with loving families; a high-volume spay/neuter program targeted to low-income families who could not otherwise afford it; a comprehensive volunteer program that encourages individuals to get hands-on in every possible way to save animals; and a program dedicated to holistic animal health and well-being. This last pillar consists of a state-of-the-art shelter medicine program to heal the body and a comprehensive animal behavior program to enrich the mind. 

Animals in shelters are wounded in many ways. They might have been lost, found surviving on the streets, or discarded by the only family they ever had. Others have had a revolving door of families. Some are victims of abuse. Each one has suffered a profound loss. 

No matter how nice the accommodations, shelters are a stressful environment for homeless pets. This stress reveals itself in a litany of physical illnesses and in less visible emotional damage. 

Just as a No Kill shelter will not take an animal