By Jane Felts

I hate to see those who are entrusted (and paid) by our county to care for our animals say that “no kill” is a popular fallacy that the public doesn’t understand. Really? Do you think the public isn’t smart enough to understand? It seems like the irresponsible public are the only ones that do understand. That “fallacy” is working to save lives in hundreds of communities across the country including one such community in North Carolina, open admission ADMISSION Polk County.

No kill doesn’t mean that no animal ever dies. Maybe people wouldn’t think no kill was a deceptive name if instead we called it: we don’t kill animals for no good reason like your crappy shelter. I’ll write and tell them they need to idiot-proof their terminology.

What no kill means is the only animals that are humanely euthanized are those who have severe medical problems or behavior problems that they cannot recover from. It means doing everything you can do to save every animal whether you personally like the animal or not; whether you personally like the people or rescue working to save said animal or not. It means using your emergency medical fund on every animal you can and not just those you like or deem worthy.

No kill is actually the No kill Equation, which is a comprehensive set of programs that help shelters achieve a save rate (on average) of 90 percent or better. The other 10 percent (on average) are those that the shelter is unable to save with medical or behavioral intervention. We are talking about real medical and behavioral intervention. Not a random Animal Control officer saying “yep, that dog looks aggressive,” but an actual behavior assessment by an unbiased professional. No kill isn’t just a number.

For those who say Rowan is approaching no kill status, I say we aren’t even close. We don’t have a single check mark on the list of 11 items that will make and sustain lasting change in our county. Some might argue that we have rescue partnerships, but to me a partnership isn’t when rescues come and pull dogs on their last day. Let a couple of community rescues burn out with all their dogs in boarding and then see where the numbers go. Our shelter has burned more rescue bridges with their unfriendly and ever changing, non-written and not improving policies than the community can put back together.

Now, let’s talk about Lincoln County. I’m sure many of you saw them announce a while back that they were “going” no kill. You may have seen Commissioner Pierce from Rowan announce the same thing. The difference here is that Lincoln County is doing the work. They are implementing low cost/high volume spay/neuter, foster programs, TNR, etc.

Meanwhile here in Rowan County, we’re appointing so-called “animal advocates” that believe no kill is deception to an animal task force and donating dishwashers to the shelter. Wake up! What about rabies vaccinations so we can end the expiration date on lives?? Lincoln County will not get there overnight and Rowan won’t ever get there until we make some serious changes.

Lastly, let’s discuss the reasons our county and shelter wouldn’t want to at least make a real effort to go no kill. What excuse can you find to be against low cost/high volume spay neuter? What about pet retention? Raise your hands if you wouldn’t want to help pets remain in loving homes. Raise them if you wouldn’t want proactive field redemptions where officers are making every effort to return pets immediately when they find them. Raise them if you don’t want to save every animal you possibly can with medical or behavior treatment. Does anyone else see how ridiculous it is that supposed “animal advocates” are against this?

Maybe it’s because they haven’t even taken the time to read and learn about it. Maybe the real fallacy is believing that only a small subset of our population is in favor of this. Maybe the real fallacy is believing that those we pay to care really do.

Jane Felts lives in Rowan County.