I’m a coordinator for a local cat foster organization and people message us daily asking if they can bring us animals. We can’t accept them, but when we suggest the shelter they always say they only want to give to “no kill shelters.” Let me explain why this makes no sense 1/n

First of all, the cat/dog/rabbit you just found is either homeless or lost. If it’s lost, you holding on to it is not helpful - the owner will not know to look for it at your house. If it’s homeless, it’s living outside being an (adorable) invasive species. Or it’s starving.

So if you want the animal to have any chance of a healthy life, a shelter IS the place to go assuming you can’t personally take it in or find it a home. Outdoor animals are rarely healthy. I could go on about this but suffice to say outdoor kitties are wormy/disease gremlins.

But maybe you’re afraid the kitty/dog/etc will be euthanized if you bring it to a shelter. It’s so cute, why should it die? So you only want to bring it to a “no kill” shelter. This is 99% of the time a misnomer.

How does the no kill shelter get that status? Usually one of 3 ways: a) they only take in healthy adoptable animals. b) they can choose which animals they take so they just stop taking animals when full c) they send their un-adoptables back to shelters

But because they are seen as so humane/non-killing, they get lots of $$$. So these facilities are often nicer than county shelters because they can afford pretty waiting rooms and fancy cat playrooms. All because they aren’t required to take every animal that comes in.

So this is great! I love humane societies too! But what about when they fill up? Yep, all those animals they don’t take go to the county shelter/animal control. In GA specifically, there’s nowhere near enough funding for these. They can often only hold 30-50 animals max

Less $$ means harder choices and more euthanized animals. Which means more grumpy citizens and less donations. Which means less staff and less $$ to help spay/neuter community animals... which means more kitties/puppies next year. It’s a vicious cycle.

So how can you help? If you find an animal and bring it to the shelter, also try to give a small donation. Animals with $ will be euthanized last. Foster organizations will often pull these animals making more space for future animals. Plus spay and neuter your pets. Seriously.

If you don’t like the euthanasia rate of your local shelter, talk to your city council! Your county decides how funds are allocated. More $$ for animal control can also help reduce wildlife disease rates and getting cats indoors helps ecosystems stay healthy! Okay, rant over

If you made it this far and want to help make a difference to some Georgia kitties/pups, donate to http://cofas.org  - we take the weird gross shelter animals (not just the cute kittens!) and require all adopters have indoor-only cats. Plus we run cheap spay/neuter clinics!

Oh and of course here are some current fosters: