If the Story of Mindy upset you, here’s what you can do:

1. Find out what your shelter’s Pit Bull policy is.
2. Download our step-by-step guide to reforming animal control by clicking here.
3. Begin the process of creating change in your own community.

A note on letter writing campaigns and petitions: Inevitably, someone is going to ask if there is a petition to sign or an address to send off a letter of protest. Unfortunately, while this may make us feel better, when it comes to local shelters run under local policies, there are no such effective shortcuts. As taxpayers and citizens, we need to hold our local shelters accountable and make sure they are being run in line with the values we hold.

As stated in the U.S. No Kill Declaration,

Today, most Americans hold the humane treatment of animals as a personal value, which is reflected in our laws, cultural practices, the proliferation of organizations founded for animal protection, increased per capita spending on animal care, and great advancements in veterinary medicine. But the agencies that the public expects to protect animals are instead killing more than five million animals annually.

Our goal is to end that tragedy. But it isn’t going to happen by signing petitions. While we co-authored and encouraged people to sign the U.S. No Kill Declaration, we also asked them to use it to create change in their own hometowns.

To create a No Kill nation, we need to create No Kill communities. There are dogs and cats being needlessly killed in your local shelter right now, today, tomorrow, the day after, and the days beyond—every bit as innocent as Mindy. You can help put an end to it by reforming your animal control shelter. It will take time, but the end results are well worth it and have proved successful elsewhere. If you truly want to create a different future for homeless animals, please take this challenge on.

Here are some tools to help you:

The U.S. No Kill Declaration Leveraging the U.S.
No Kill Declaration Reforming Animal Control

To educate yourself about No Kill, go to the Resource Library at www.nokillsolutions.com by clicking here.

If you want to help us continue to advocate for homeless animals by empowering local activists with the tools they need to save lives, click here.

If you believe your shelter is open to change, have them contact us. We have helped shelters from California to New York reduce killing in their own hometowns. To read about two such shelters, click here.