No-kill is within reach, thanks to you

That means more dogs and cats are waking up today in loving homes than yesterday — and tomorrow even more will have that same chance.

The goal of ending killing in shelters is called no-kill. No-kill is a community commitment to saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved — and we’ve reached a tipping point in saving our country’s homeless pets.

Today, 2 out of 3 U.S. shelters are no-kill, and hundreds more are within reach of that goal. Our goal is to get to 100%. In just the first half of 2025, lifesaving for dogs and cats in U.S. shelters jumped 19% compared to the same time period last year. But still, every 90 seconds a dog or cat is killed in a U.S. shelter simply because they don’t have a safe place to call home. This is a solvable issue, and you can be part of the solution.

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

See how your community is doing

The ultimate goal of no-kill is to ensure that all shelters, like the ones in your community, have the resources to save every dog and cat possible. Our commitment is to help make every shelter and every community no-kill.

We've seen tremendous momentum and success so far, and we are so close to achieving no-kill around the entire country.

Knowing where each shelter and community stands not only helps determine the best way to move forward, but it also helps track the progress we’re making together.

Is Your Community No-Kill?

A declaration to reach no-kill

In 2016, Best Friends CEO Julie Castle declared Best Friends’ intention to end the killing of dogs and cats in shelters by working together with shelters and rescue groups across the country.

When we set this goal in 2016 to save the lives of our country’s pets, around 2 million cats and dogs were killed in U.S. shelters simply because shelters didn't have the community support or the resources to save their lives. That number is now down to about 425,000 per year, after years of working together to adopt, foster, and support our local shelters.

From the data we saw in 2016, it was clear we needed to make big changes — and fast — for animals in U.S. shelters. We can see we’ve come so far, but there’s still work to do to ensure a bright future for every dog and cat in America.

Achieving no-kill nationwide starts with you

Every action you take for homeless pets in your community helps to save their lives and gets the country closer to no-kill.

We've made tremendous progress since 2016 when we set out to work with shelters across the country to reach no-kill, and we’re now closer than ever to ending the killing in shelters.

Remarkable achievements by remarkable individuals have carried us to within sight of the finish, but it will require each of us to be remarkable in our own way to extend that lifesaving to every state, every county, and every community in the country to achieve no-kill.

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?

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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

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.

Find an animal shelter or rescue group near you today:

Person kneeling down to hug a dog in the grass

Looking for more ways to help?

Every action you take for homeless pets helps to save their lives and gets the country closer to no-kill; we’ll show you how.

Help save animals in your community

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.