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relationships with community members.These type of interactions can help to inform members of the <br /> public about their shelter and its programming,while showcasing adoptable animals.These events also <br /> help to form positive relationships with citizens who may not have had much exposure to the shelter. <br /> SBACC has also held training seminars for the public to assist in dog training which helps keep pets in <br /> homes. <br /> 4. SHELTER CONSTRAINTS <br /> Some of the largest obstacles for SBACC to realize their full potential and attain a "no kill" <br /> status,which is a must for any modern community, is the small number of staff members and the lack of <br /> physical space in the building to accommodate the sheer number of pets that pass through their doors <br /> on a yearly basis.The dedicated tasks that must be fulfilled on a daily basis in running a shelter are <br /> numerous and time consuming. The shelter only has 20 dog kennels in their adoption area and 15 for <br /> the dogs in the stray hold area, (there are 4 in isolation and 2 in the treatment room as well).The cat <br /> situation is as bad with only 18 small kennels and a community cat room that can hold approximately 12 <br /> cats. When you consider that SBACC dealt with 2,650 animals this past year,with these space limitations <br /> for the animals, you should be able to extrapolate just how difficult the job is for shelter staff to move <br /> pets quickly, not to mention the risk to the animals to have a successful live outcome placement. <br /> According to Maddie's Fund, a no-kill shelter is defined as: <br /> "Maddie's Fund and most in the no-kill movement define a no-kill shelter,a no-kill city, a <br /> no-kill community or a no-kill nation as a place where all healthy and treatable animals are <br /> saved and where only unhealthy&untreatable animals are euthanized. Maddie's Fund uses <br /> the definitions in the Asilomar Accords to define these terms." [Emphasis added] <br /> It is consistently held that to achieve a no-kill designation,a shelter has to have a consistent live <br /> release rate above 90 percent. SBACC offers euthanasia as a service to pet owners, and there will be <br /> cases where a truly humane euthanasia needs to occur in any municipal shelter. But in its truest sense, <br /> humane euthanasia needs to be reserved for those cases in which it is absolutely necessary, i.e. when an <br /> animal is so ill or injured (or behaviorally presents a health and safety risk)that they are not going to <br /> become healthy in the future, even if provided the care that a reasonable pet owner would provide.The <br /> minimum goal is for at least 9 out of every 10 animals that enter the shelter to leave the shelter alive. <br /> Animals that are loose in the city can be there for a few reasons. Many have gotten loose from <br /> owners, some are victims of neglect, and some are intentionally abandoned. In certain cases, when <br /> people fear that the shelter will kill a pet they can no longer care for,they abandon that animal on the <br /> street thinking it will have a "better chance"of living without thinking of the dangers. Unfortunately, <br /> that begins a problematic cycle. When pets are abandoned, it causes more work for the shelter as <br /> unaltered animals reproduce,when abandoned animals who can't care for themselves starve and <br /> become ill or injured, or cause risks to the public by being in traffic.This in turn begets more shelter <br /> deaths, when ill and injured animals are brought in as strays, and the cycle completes.This cycle can be <br /> broken when a shelter has attained a no kill status. <br /> Unwarranted "euthanasia" of animals also takes a very human toll. Recent studies have shown <br /> how animal shelter staffers and veterinarians can "burn out" due to the emotional impacts of <br /> euthanasia related stress and depression. <br />