The Fayette County Animal Shelter was awarded the “We are a NO-KILL Shelter” award from the Best Friends Animal Society in recognition of achieving a 90% save rate or more of the animals in the shelter. To be considered “No Kill,” a shelter or rescue must have a live release rate of 90%.
“We have been “No Kill” by definition since 2018. Fayette County Animal Control maintains a 96-98% live release rate annually,” Jerry Collins, Director, said.
“Fayette County has a small shelter compared to other organizations surrounding us. Our current shelter has space for 26 dogs and 40 cats. Keeping the high-live release rate has been a community achievement, thanks to the many rescues, volunteers, and the hard-working staff at Animal Control,” he said.
“Staff has been very creative in utilizing the space available and working within the policies and procedures set forth to keep animals safe and in a clean environment. Since 2018 the Fayette County Board of Commissioners and Administration have been strong supporters of Animal Control with increased funding in key areas such as medical and cleaning supplies. They even set up a special fund to pay for spay and neuters of any animal that leaves the shelter so that any animal adopted from our shelter is already spayed or neutered. They also have funded the building of a new shelter which should be complete in early 2024,” Collins said.
“I know that this success would not have happened without all the hard work of all involved. I often say it takes a village to achieve great things. From where I stand, the village is strong and successful,” he said.
Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization founded in 1984. They work to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters by 2025.
Congratulations are due to Jerry and his staff and to all the volunteers and advocates who made Fayette Animal Shelter a No Kill facility. It’s a great achievement. I used to walk the dogs there as a volunteer and was always impressed with all the folks at the facility it certainly has come a long way and deserves our community support and funding.