There Ought to Be a Shelter Reform Law

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For No Kill success to be widespread and long lasting, we must focus on institutionalizing No Kill by giving shelter animals rights and protections afforded by law irrespective of who is running the shelter. Every successful social movement results in legal protections that codify expected conduct and provide protection against future practices that violates normative values. We need to regulate shelters in the same way we regulate hospitals and other agencies that hold power over life and death. The answer lies in passing and enforcing shelter reform legislation that mandates how a shelter must operate.

The ideal animal law would ban the killing of dogs and cats, and would prohibit the impounding of community cats except for purposes of placement or sterilization. Yet given that local governments may not pass such sweeping laws at this time in history, advocates must seek shelter reform legislation that forces shelter leadership to operate their shelters in a progressive, life-affirming way, removing the discretion that has for too long allowed shelter leaders to ignore what is in the best interests of the animals

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