Animal Ark, Minnesota’s premier No Kill shelter, has seen it time and time again. Minnesota pounds “that profess to use so-called ‘euthanasia’ [killing] as a last resort often reach for a bottle of sodium pentobarbital labeled ‘Fatal Plus’ as the first choice, and without seeking any other alternatives. The killing of healthy animals in shelters is so common place that it is considered the leading killer of healthy dogs and cats in the United States.”
Shelters kill when they have ample numbers of empty cages. Shelters kill without seeking foster homes for pets. Shelters kill without notifying area rescue groups there are animals needing rescue. Shelters kill animals with treatable medical conditions, without those animals ever being seen by a veterinarian. And, shelters kill owner-surrendered animals on arrival, without giving the owners an opportunity to change their minds.
According to Animal Ark,
Unnecessary killing of animals in shelters is so common throughout Minnesota that a family pet taken in by a shelter in the Twin Cities has only about a 50% chance of making it out alive. Compare that figure to the growing number of communities in the United State that have live-release rates in excess of 90% and it becomes easy to see that a lot of unnecessary killing is taking place in Minnesota animal shelters.
However, a proposed new law could help motivate Minnesota animal shelters to save more lives. The Minnesota Companion Animal Protection Act (MN CAPA) will be introduced in Minnesota within the next week and would provide needed regulation of animal shelters throughout the state, if passed into law.
MN CAPA is based on model legislation prepared by the No Kill Advocacy Center, the same model legislation that was used in the preparation of the Delaware Companion Animal Protection Act, which passed unanimously in both the House and Senate, and which was signed into law in 2010.
To learn more about MN CAPA, click here.
To learn how to introduce and pass similar legislation in your state or county, click here.