Best Friends Animal Society hosts rally Monday to support King County's efforts to end the killing of homeless pets

Best Friends Animal Society, a leader in the national animal welfare movement, invites King County residents to attend a rally Monday in support of efforts to create a model animal welfare program in King County that would save all healthy and treatable homeless pets.

The rally will precede the King County Council's Town Hall Meeting in Burien and will include speeches by Best Friends' Founder Gregory Castle, and King County Councilmembers Julia Patterson and Dow Constantine.

Yesterday the Metropolitan King County Council and County Executive Ron Sims announced nearly $1 million will be earmarked to make immediate improvements in shelters run by King County Animal Care and Control (KCACC), which have been plagued by severe problems. Sims also voiced public support for the Council's legislation passed last year, which aims at saving at least 85% of animals entering KCACC shelters by the end of 2009.

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At a Glance:
Rally for the Animals: 6 p.m. Monday, April 14, outside the Highline Performing Arts Center, 401 South 152nd Street, in Burien.

Featured speakers:
Gregory Castle, one of the founders of Best Friends Animal Society, and president of No More Homeless Pets Utah; King County Councilmember Julia Patterson; King County Councilmember Dow Constantine.

Town Hall Meeting:
Immediately following the Rally at 6:30 p.m., inside the performing arts center.

Come voice your support for the council's efforts to bring about fundamental change - to improve the quality of care for the animals in the county's shelters, and increase the number who are placed in loving homes.

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"Best Friends Animal Society congratulates King County's commitment to creating a model animal care program," said Castle. "King County is on the verge of a remarkable opportunity to become a national model of compassion. There is no doubt that King County has the tools to create a community that saves all of its healthy and treatable animals: a compassionate, prosperous, and pet-loving population; a strong network of local rescues and humane organizations; and now, the inspiring stand for the animals that has been taken by the King County Council."

Castle is one of the founders of Best Friends Animal Society, which operates the nation's largest no-kill companion animal sanctuary. Best Friends is looked to as a thought leader in the national movement to end the killing of adoptable homeless pets. In addition Castle spearheaded No More Homeless Pets Utah (NMHPU). This unique statewide coalition has demonstrated over eight years that solving the homeless pets problem is an achievable goal. NMHPU utilized a variety of strategies including spay/neuter, advocating adoption of homeless pets from shelters and helping people with alternatives to surrendering their pets, there is an alternative to euthanizing healthy, adoptable pets. NMHPU successfully reduced euthanasia in Utah shelters by 47 percent, increased shelter adoptions by 60 percent, and 217,000 dogs and cats were spay or neutered at low cost.

About Best Friends Animal Society:
Best Friends Animal Society, one of America's foremost animal rescue organizations, operates the country's largest sanctuary for abused and abandoned animals. On any given day, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, located in southwestern Utah, is home to approximately 2,000 dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds, and other animals. Founded in 1984, Best Friends advances nationwide initiatives that promote community involvement to make the world a better place through kindness to animals. Best Friends also promotes adoption, low-cost spay-neuter services, and humane education programs through its work with animal shelters and rescue groups around the country. The society publishes Best Friends magazine, the nation's largest general interest, pet-related magazine with approximately 300,000 subscribers. For more information, visit www.bestfriends.org.

"When Best Friends Animal Society began in the early 1970's, the no-kill philosophy was largely derided by the mainstream. Much has changed in the last 20 years, as the no-kill philosophy has been embraced by more and more communities and humane organizations, which refuse to accept that the only answer to irresponsible pet ownership is to kill the victims," Castle said. "Each week, more humane societies, animal welfare groups, animal control authorities and concerned citizens are committing themselves to the goal of bringing an end to shelter killing in their neighborhoods, cities, and states."