Animal shelter pressure group The No Kill Advocacy Center writes in their latest newsletter that in 2005 the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA saved 87% of their dogs and 67% of their cats, but that things have improved since new director Susanne Kogut came on board:
So far this year, 95% of the dogs are leaving the shelter alive. If that holds, Charlottesville, VA will become the safest community in the U.S. for dogs. As for cats, saving 7 out of 10 makes them the envy of most communities in the nation. But, once again, Kogut wants more.
Impressive! Thanks to Dave for the tip.
It is good to see an organization like the SPCA doing well. With groups like PETA and ALF that make people who like animals seem like weird kooks, the SPCA shows that people can care about animals without making fools of themselves or creating disasters.
Perhaps SPCA’s spanking new facilities have somthing to do with it, eh? No? Jesus! We may not have taken 3 cats last year had it been the decrepit place it was before!!!!!!!!!!!!
That “so far this year” number would be more impressive if kitten season were over already… January through early April are traditionally “slow” times of year in the shelter world. June is when kittens and momma cats begin pouring in, and many people are enjoying summer vacations instead of adopting animals.
Nonetheless, CASPCA has come a very, very long way in a short time. There are a lot of strong feelings about decisions made for the new building, but overall I think the board and staff made choices for the future and kept Ghandi’s sentiment in mind: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be determined by the way it treats its animals.”
As an aside, Fluvanna’s SPCA (where I’ve volunteered in the past) is doing well, too. Their overall euthanasia rate last year was just 10%, and that includes aggressive and seriously ill or injured critters. Now, Fluvanna’s caseload is not nearly as high as CASPCA’s, but they receive dramatically less money, too. And they achieved that 90% no-kill rate with an old building, weird hours (they’re only allowed to be open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. due to zoning), four employees, and a core group of REALLY devoted volunteers. Woo hoo!
My wife and I have signed up to start fostering some little critters from the SPCA, and we’ve learned along the way that they’re working doubletime to share the load of the 500-something cats and kittens that they’ve got right now, so that when kitten season ends they can take them back from the foster homes and adopt them out. It’d be a freaking miracle if they could maintain a low kill rate during kittening season, but they’re clearly working it if they can persuade this dog person to foster kittens. :)
In other news, “kittening” is an actual word despite it being so awesome. I just now learned that.