Inside the No-Kill 2025 Movement at Cincinnati Animal CARE: Defining No-Kill
Inside the No-Kill 2025 Movement at Cincinnati Animal CARE: Defining No-Kill
At Cincinnati Animal CARE (CAC), we are proud to be part of the No-Kill 2025 Movement, a national initiative led by Best Friends Animal Society to ensure that no shelter animal is euthanized unless it is the most compassionate option for health or safety. This movement is fueled by a powerful belief: that every dog and cat deserves a chance at a loving home.
But what does “no-kill” truly mean? And how does it differ from “no-euthanasia”? Let’s take a closer look.
What is the Difference between Kill and Euthanize?
People often confuse “no-kill” with “no-euthanasia”. To understand no-kill it is important to clearly define the words we are using. To euthanize means to humanely end suffering. Suffering may come in the form of injury or illness or even no prospect of a safe, live outcome from the shelter due to safety. On the other hand, killing is to end a healthy, happy, and safe life.
What Does “No-Euthanasia” Mean?
No-euthanasia means no ending of life even if an animal is suffering. This approach would leave untreatable sick and injured animals to suffer until they die on their own. It would also result in animals that are healthy but unsafe for adoption to live their lives in small shelter kennels for the rest of their lives. At Cincinnati Animal CARE, we consider both of those options cruel and irresponsible. To let an animal suffer medically with no hope for treatment is cruel. To make an animal live in a kennel at an animal shelter for the rest of its life, with little human interaction, is also cruel.
What Does “No-Kill” Mean?
No-kill is saving every savable animal but still humanely euthanizing the ones who have no hope at a safe, healthy, or humane outcome. No animal is “killed” at CAC, only humanely euthanized when there is no other humane alternative.
In the animal shelter industry, saving 90% of animals in care is widely considered the “no-kill” benchmark. This benchmark acknowledges that humane euthanasia is the responsible and compassionate outcome for animals who are suffering from severe medical conditions or dangerous behavioral issues that cannot be safely managed. It is a compassionate approach that prioritizes the well-being of both animals and the community. At CAC, we proudly post our “noses in/noses out” data on our website every month and have consistently stayed above 90% live release rate (animals leaving our shelter alive) since we assumed Hamilton County animal services operations in 2020.
What are the Reasons CAC Elects to Euthanize?
At Cincinnati Animal CARE, we have robust medical and behavior teams. No end-of-life decision is made lightly, nor in a vacuum. Multiple people are engaged in plans and treatments to provide interventions to the medical or behavior issues an animal is suffering, as well as, multiple people involved in discussions around end-of-life decisions.
1. Medical or Physical Health Reasons:
Medically, we have an exceptionally strong medical team trained and prepared to handle everything from chronic illness to emergency critical care. Every animal suffering from injury or illness is immediately triaged but when the triage doesn’t work and there is no probable or reasonable prognosis, medical leadership discusses realistic outcomes. In 2024, out of the 7,000 animals who entered our system, we euthanized 98 animals for medical reasons. While we have one of the best medical teams a county shelter could dream of having, sometimes animals come into our care in critical conditions that we cannot save. In those cases, the animal is euthanized so as not to prolong their suffering.
Here are the reasons why animals were medically euthanized in our care in 2024:
- 1 – Geriatric
- 1 – FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus)
- 1 – Cancer
- 3 – Hit by car
- 6 – Severely injured on intake
- 6 – Distemper
- 30 – Medical – Extreme Need
- 50 – No Response to Treatment
2. Unsafe Behavior Reasons:
Behaviorally, we have a team of staff members representing a variety of departments in the organization called our Lifesaving Team. This team meets weekly to discuss a running list of dogs struggling behaviorally and how our staff and community can intervene in these animals’ lives to get them out of the shelter when their ability to be safe pets and/or quality of life is a concern.
For the purposes of understanding how we come to a euthanasia decision for unsafe behavior, all dogs are assessed the same way. Dogs demonstrating unsafe behavior toward people and animals are evaluated consistently and fairly.
Each dog is evaluated using the following criteria:
- Unpredictability
- Can we anticipate the dog’s behavior in various situations?
- Uninterruptible
- Is the behavior manageable or interruptible?
- Potential for Harm
- How much damage could the dog cause?
- Severity and Frequency of Incidents
- What was the extent of harm caused?
- How often have incidents occurred?
- Behavioral Thresholds
- How quickly does the dog escalate to offensive/unsafe behavior?
- Management and Safety
- Can we safely manage the dog’s behavior on-site or in a home?
- Can the dog be housed on-site or in a home safely and humanely?
- Staff and Volunteer Safety
- Do team members feel safe working with the dog?
3. Additional Considerations
When making decisions, we also consider:
- Adoption Barriers
- Are there challenges preventing this dog from being adopted? Ie. Do people in our community want to adopt this dog with these behaviors?
- Available Resources
- Do we have the resources to support this dog while it’s in our care?
- Do we have the resources to help the dog’s behavior improve so that it can become more adoptable?
- Opportunities Provided
- Has the dog been given fair chances for rehabilitation or adoption?
- Community Safety
- Does the dog pose a risk to public safety?
4. Quality of Life or Mental Health Reasons:
If a dog spends too much time at the shelter, they can develop ‘kennel neurosis.’ Dogs with kennel neurosis may exhibit repetitive or inhibited behaviors, such as excessive vocalization, restlessness, and self-mutilation. They may also show signs of depression, such as lethargy and lack of appetite. These conditions disrupt their mental and physical balance, preventing them from returning to normal behavior. The primary factors contributing to this disorder in shelter dogs include:
- Prolonged confinement and frustration
- Lack of outlets for normal behavior or enriching activities
- Inability to regular emotional state to calm down
- Exposure to unavoidable stressors
- Irregular routines or the opposite, monotony
- Absence of a trusted person or lack of affection
Out of the 162 dogs behaviorally euthanized in 2024, we believe that 82 could have safely been placed in the community if they had been able to leave the shelter sooner. That’s roughly 50% of the dogs we had to say goodbye to in 2024.
This is where you, our community, come in. We’ll handle the medical and unsafe behaviors, but we need you to help us with the great dogs who are simply deteriorating in the shelter system. Kennel neurosis in dogs is preventable–but we need more fosters, volunteers, and community support to be able to intervene in these animals’ lives earlier (before they get so bad that humane euthanasia is the outcome) and we can’t do it alone.
Our Commitment at Cincinnati Animal CARE
At Cincinnati Animal CARE, we are dedicated to the well-being and dignity of every animal entrusted to us. At CAC, we proudly post our “noses in/noses out” data on our website every month. Since we assumed Hamilton County animal services operations in 2020, we have consistently stayed above a 90% live release rate (animals leaving our shelter alive).
We want to reassure our community that we never euthanize animals simply for space. Our team works tirelessly to provide every animal with the care, support, and opportunities they need to thrive. This includes:
- Comprehensive Behavioral Assessments: For dogs with significant behavioral challenges, we evaluate their quality of life, safety considerations, and barriers to finding an adoptive home. Humane behavioral or medical euthanasia is only considered as a last resort and always with the animal’s dignity in mind.
- Innovative Lifesaving Programs: From fostering initiatives, daily playgroups and enrichment, and reduced-fee adoption events, we constantly seek ways to create positive outcomes for animals in our care.
- Community Engagement: We empower individuals to become part of the solution through fostering, adopting, volunteering, or donating. Together, we can ensure that every animal has a chance at a brighter future.
Why the No-Kill 2025 Movement Matters
The No-Kill 2025 Movement has already achieved incredible progress, with nearly two-thirds of all shelters in the U.S. reaching no-kill status. But there is still work to be done. Every 90 seconds, a dog or cat is killed in a U.S. shelter. This is why the No-Kill 2025 goal is so critical: it’s a collective effort to ensure that every pet who can be saved is given that fighting chance.
Best Friends Animal Society shares a powerful statistic: 85% of adults in the U.S. believe it’s important or essential to have no-kill shelters in their communities. At Cincinnati Animal CARE, we are proud to be a part of this lifesaving movement, and we remain committed to doing our part for the animals who depend on us.
Join Us in Making a Difference
Every animal deserves a second chance, and together, we can make it happen. If you’re interested in learning more about a specific dog in our care or how you can help, reach out to us. Whether it’s through fostering, adopting, volunteering, or donating, you can be a lifesaving hero for the animals who need us most.
Let’s work together to achieve a No-Kill Nation in 2025. Because every life is worth saving.
