Our Commitment to Animals
Defining a shelter's policy in one word is very difficult and often unfair. The term No-Kill is used widely among animal welfare groups but it is often misunderstood. No-Kill is supposed to mean that adoptable animals are not destroyed. It does not mean that no animals are ever destroyed, but that animals are not destroyed without a valid reason why they are not considered adoptable within the standards of that organization. Unfortunately, the public often perceives that No-Kill means that nothing is every killed. In some shelters, as many as 10% of the animals entering the facility may be euthanized with the No-Kill definition still being applicable. Many shelters and animal welfare organization are recognizing the the No-Kill term is inappropriate and potentially misleading. The philosophy of "No More Homeless Pets" is a commitment by many organizations to provide homes for all adoptable pets entering their organization. There is not a definitive standard nationwide for what makes an animal adoptable, but IMHS feels that the following reasons are valid reasons for euthanasia (humane death) in animals under our care:
- Advanced age with significant medical or behavioral problems.
- Severe medical problems with a poor prognosis.
- Aggressive behavior toward people, including dominance aggression and severe fear response aggression.
- Severe aggression toward other dogs (if we feel this dog will seriously endanger other dogs in a household or neighborhood)
- Other severe behavioral problems that make the pet dangerous or distinctly unacceptable to a reasonable household.
While all animal care-givers absolutely prefer to save lives, we will not keep animals alive who are suffering needlessly and we cannot risk the moral and legal consequences of the adoption of known dangerous animals. When we receive animals that we know are unadoptable in the eyes of a reasonable human being according to these standards, we feel it is our obligation to our community not to place them in situations where they might endanger people or other animals. Luckily, we typically have to provide euthanasia for well less than 5% of the animals entering our program. We do, however, limit the numbers of animals coming into our program and will refuse some dogs based on history and known behavior problems. Many larger shelters that do not limit their intake of animals typically find from 7-10+% of the animals presented to them are "unadoptable" based on a variety of criteria.
We fully understand that some shelters that do not limit their admissions are working against much more severe issues of numbers and space. We do not condemn them in any way for their actions based on their open admission policy. There is unfortunately, in many communities, no short and simple way around this situation at the present. Many open admission shelters are making tremendous strides toward minimizing the numbers of adoptable animals who must be euthanized. Many communities now understand that the problems of too many animals, unadoptable animals and difficult to adopt animals go beyond simple pet overpopulation. The problem stems from a variety of sources including:
- Lack of early socialization and training of puppies.
- Lack of education concerning proper care of dogs and cats in general.
- Unwillingness to sterilize pets or "forgetting" to sterilize before the animal reproduces.
- Puppy mills and irresponsible breeders (responsible breeders are not the problem!).
IMHS feels that we need to approach animal welfare issues on multiple fronts, trying to bring together community resources and provide not only animal care, but pet sterilization and public education.
IMHS does not accept into inventory dogs with a history of aggression, or dogs that appear to be wolf-dog hybrids. The Board of Directors feels that the liability of routinely taking these animals into foster homes puts at risk the existence of the organization.