No Kill Huntsville is a coalition of local animal welfare advocates, rescuers and shelter directors who came together in January of 2012 to speak with one voice to seek better for our community. We strive to make ours a no kill community; a place where healthy and treatable animals are not destroyed in our municipal shelter using our tax dollars and resources because there are proven ways to save them. There are hundreds of no kill communities across the country where the lives of shelter animals are saved while still ensuring public safety and fiscal responsibility. Those places don't have any of the resources we don't have right here; and it is our position that our community is smart enough, creative enough and progressive enough to do better using our tax dollars.

Since the time we formed our coalition, tremendous progress has been made by our municipal animal shelter - Huntsville Animal Services. Animals in our shelter now have a greater chance of making it out of the shelter alive at any time in the history of the City of Huntsville and Madison County.

On November 1, 2018, the Huntsville City Council voted unanimously to revise Chapter 5 of the City Code regarding animals. These changes to the code relate to standards for animals in the community, the operation of Huntsville Animal Services and the intent of the city moving forward. You can view Ordinance Number 18-952 here. You can also watch the October 25, 2018, presentation by Shelter Director Dr. Karen Sheppard, along with the Q&A with the city council, here (it starts at approximately 1:23:40 and ends at 1:55:20).

The live release rate at the shelter in 2019 was 92% for dogs and was 96% for cats. While we focus on method and not math - keeping all healthy and treatable animals alive - these statistics are indicators of progress. We are hopeful that city officials will continue to fine tune existing programs and develop new programs in 2020 to keep more animals  alive, particularly dogs.

We invite you to learn about issues related to animal sheltering and about the methods being used across the country to save shelter animals. Because our community has made tremendous progress, we know that other communities are looking to us for guidance and information. We hope that the information on our website continues to help the people who live and work in Huntsville and Madison County, but also helps people in other communities who may be looking to reform animal shelter operations using diplomacy and advocacy.

Our latest interview with WHLR regarding progress made at Huntsville Animal Services and what the public can do to help is at this link.

(cover image of Ralphie, a Katrina survivor, courtesy of Dana Kay Mattox Deutsch, a rescuer whom sadly we lost to cancer earlier this year)

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