Susan Houser
The Professionalization of Animal Sheltering: Introduction to Series
In recent years the animal-shelter industry has made giant strides in professionalizing its operations. This blog post is an introduction...
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Susan Houser
Sep 18, 20173 min read
Know Your LOS
Length of Stay (LOS) is the amount of time that an animal spends in a shelter between impoundment and disposition. It is a particularly...
Susan Houser
Sep 5, 20173 min read
A Window of Opportunity to Make Houston No Kill
Harris County and the city of Houston have five major intake shelters. In 2005, a city task force reported that annual intake at the five...
Susan Houser
Aug 26, 20174 min read
The Origins of No Kill in Virginia
I recently posted a blog about Virginia’s new, statewide No Kill effort. Regional and statewide efforts are a big trend in No Kill right...
Susan Houser
Aug 15, 20173 min read
How “Clear the Shelters” Got Started
It was the summer of 2014, and Corey Price had a problem. She had recently taken over as manager of Irving Animal Services (IAS), in the...
Susan Houser
Jul 31, 20174 min read
A New Statewide No Kill Effort in Virginia
The Virginia No Kill movement got its start when Makena Yarbrough, executive director of the Lynchburg Humane Society (LHS) in Lynchburg,...
Susan Houser
Jul 10, 20176 min read
American Pets Alive Conference, Now Better Than Ever
Back in 2010, the city of Austin started making national news as its animal shelter neared the goal of reaching a 90%+ live release rate....
Susan Houser
Jun 30, 20174 min read
A New Statewide No Kill Effort Launches in Washington
I recently had the opportunity to interview Jeanine Foucher, executive director of Pet Net Washington (PNW). PNW is a grant-making...
Susan Houser
Jun 17, 20174 min read
Anderson County’s No Kill Transition
Anderson County, South Carolina, is in the western part of the state, bordering Greenville County. It is located on the I-85 corridor...
Susan Houser
Jun 2, 20175 min read
Catching Up with Humane Network
In the last few years we’ve seen a welcome and much-needed increase in the number of shelter consultants. We now have a wide variety of...
Susan Houser
Mar 28, 20176 min read
Target Zero’s Kentucky Initiative
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Sara Pizano and Cameron Moore, the principal consultants for Target Zero (TZ). A lot has...
Susan Houser
Jan 1, 20176 min read
2016 — A Banner Year for No Kill
Many of the general retrospectives on 2016 that have appeared in the media in the last few days have branded the year as a disaster. It’s...
Susan Houser
Dec 28, 20166 min read
The Controversy Over Shelters Spaying Pregnant Animals
A perennial issue for No Kill has been whether it is ethical for No Kill shelters to spay dogs and cats who are known to be pregnant....
Susan Houser
Dec 14, 20167 min read
The No Kill Movement’s Place in History — And Why It Matters
We do not have any good method of collecting data on animal shelters, either today or historically. Understandably this has led to a...
Susan Houser
Nov 22, 20164 min read
Poor People Should Be Able to Have Dogs Too
The United States used to have a nationwide dog overpopulation problem. In the early 1970s humane advocates started mass spay-neuter...
Susan Houser
Oct 25, 20164 min read
Five Reasons Why Government Is Bad At No Kill
If you’ve been in No Kill for very long, you’ve noticed it — the great majority of communities that have achieved sustainable No Kill...
Susan Houser
Oct 13, 20166 min read
The Devil Is In The Details
It has been more than 20 years now since the concept of a No Kill community was created by Rich Avanzino in San Francisco. Today many...
Susan Houser
Oct 8, 20166 min read
What is the Most Effective No Kill Technique?
Most industries pay attention to where they were in the past and where they are now. Changes over time in the parameters that are...
Susan Houser
Oct 8, 20165 min read
No Kill — Can Cities Get There Without Help?
This is Part II in a three-part series on how the unique legal status of domestic pets affects the infrastructure of No Kill. Here is a...
Susan Houser
Sep 10, 20163 min read
Michigan’s Progress in Reducing Shelter Killing
Michigan is one of the handful of states that (1) require shelters in the state to report their statistics and (2) make the reports...
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