We of No Kill Huntsville believe in providing support within the community to keep pets in existing homes without judgement. Although many people feel that animals enter shelters due to animal problems, they are actually people problems. People often have financial problems which make it hard to feed their pets or pay for routine veterinary care. They may lose their housing due to a fire or some unexpected hardship and need short-term fostering for their pets until they can get more stable housing or a better job. They may also need someone to talk to just to sort through the real reasons they think they may need to surrender their pet to a shelter (or a rescue group).
No Kill Huntsville is aware that there are resources in our community to help keep pets in existing homes and keep them out of municipal animal shelters where they may be at risk. We know a lot of rescue groups and non-profits can provide limited help - a fact which is known to very few pet caregivers in the community. We are aware of pet food distribution by Manna House and the King's Community Kitchen at the Greater Huntsville Humane Society.
Our goal is to prepare the resources guide and share it with participating organizations. We will also make it available on our website and will share it with Huntsville Animal Services as a tool to use in pet retention counseling.
We're asking local rescue groups, non-profit animal shelters and animal welfare organizations to take this survey so we can create a resource guide for people in Huntsville, Madison County and surrounding areas help themselves toward keeping pets with existing caregivers. If you are a pet-oriented business which can provide short-term assistance to keep pets in existing homes, you are also welcome to complete our survey.