After decades of work, no-kill is within reach, thanks to you

No-kill has become the norm for animal shelters across the U.S., and more shelters are committed to ending the killing of dogs and cats than ever before. Because of your help, nearly 4 million cats and dogs were saved in U.S. shelters in 2024 alone, which is an incredible accomplishment.

But there are still more animals to be saved. Every 90 seconds, a dog or cat is killed in our nation’s shelters just because they don’t have a safe place to call home.

Our commitment to saving more lives has never been stronger. We’ve reached the tipping point for pets in America, and there is no turning back. Together, with your help, we can ensure that we create a safer future for pets everywhere.

No-kill shelters are now the norm

The no-kill movement is no longer a hopeful idea or a distant dream. It’s real. It’s working. And it’s spreading.

Best Friends CEO Julie Castle breaks down the latest data on what’s happening in shelters around the U.S. and what that means for homeless pets in our communities.

Reaching No-Kill

The future has never looked brighter for America’s pets

We set a bold goal in 2016 to achieve no-kill by 2025. If that seemed like a lofty goal, that’s because it was. But big goals help us push past boundaries in ways we never dreamed possible. And now, we’re closer than ever to reaching no-kill nationwide.

In 2016, when we set the goal to achieve no-kill nationwide by 2025, over 1 million cats and dogs were killed in shelters. Now, thanks to passionate animal lovers like you, that number dropped to around 425,000 pets in 2024.

Our commitment to saving lives is stronger than ever. Through fires, floods, and a worldwide pandemic, we’ve kept our lifesaving mission moving forward, making deep investments and creating innovative programs to help even more animals across the country.

Now more than ever, it’s time to use this lifesaving momentum and keep the needle moving forward for homeless pets. Together, we’ve saved so many lives. And together, we can continue to save so many more.

How You Can Help

Achieving no-kill nationwide starts with you

Every action you take for homeless pets saves lives.

Since 2016, when we committed to achieving no-kill nationwide, we’ve made incredible progress for homeless pets. Today, we’re closer than ever to ending the killing of dogs and cats in shelters for good.

You are an essential part of this lifesaving work. Every action you take for homeless pets in your community helps to save lives and bring the nation closer to no-kill.

The country is closer than ever to becoming no-kill, but there’s still vital work ahead to ensure that every state, county, and community embraces lifesaving as the standard for animals.

Is Your Community No-Kill?

Help your local animal shelter or rescue group

At Best Friends, our goal is to get more dogs and cats out of shelters and into homes and make every shelter in America no-kill. Each and every one of these shelters needs caring people like you to adopt, foster, donate, volunteer, and advocate to help save the lives of pets in your community.

When you give us your email address, we'll send you a list of shelters where you live and share more about how you can help save the lives of homeless pets.

Find an animal shelter or rescue group near you today:

Adopt

When you adopt a pet from a rescue group or animal shelter instead of buying from a breeder or puppy mill, you’re providing a lifesaving second chance.

Adopt Near Me

Join

We believe every pet deserves a home, whether it’s a house with a fenced yard, a cozy apartment, or a safe outdoor space for community cats. Do you agree?

I Agree

Donate

Your gift will go straight to work saving the lives of homeless pets around the country by providing them with the help and healing they need to find loving homes.

Make a Gift

Let’s be friends!

Connect with us on social media to stay in the loop about the lifesaving progress we’re making together. 

Tracking our lifesaving progress with data

Knowing where we stand not only helps determine the best way to move forward, but it also helps track the progress we're making together.

See the data »

Our priorities: A road map to reaching no-kill

To give our most faithful companions the second chances they deserve, we're using our expertise to take the entire country to no-kill.

See our priorities »

About Best Friends Animal Society

Best Friends is working to end the killing of dogs and cats in U.S. shelters in part by getting more pets out of shelters and into loving homes.

We’ve come a long way since the first known city reached no-kill in 1994, and now we’re closer than ever to making the entire country no-kill. Of the roughly 3,900 shelters operating in America today, 1,300 of them are not yet no-kill, but nearly half are close with 100 or fewer additional pets to be saved, and we know what to do to get them there.

Best Friends is committed to working with passionate people like you to save homeless pets through adoption, volunteering, fostering, and advocacy. In addition to our lifesaving centers around the U.S, we also founded and run the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals.

Working together, we can save homeless pets in our communities and secure a better future for our best friends. Together, we will bring the whole country to no-kill.