No-kill is within reach, thanks to you
We’ve reached the tipping point in our lifesaving movement. Nearly two-thirds of all shelters achieved no-kill last year. Our goal is to get to 100%.
A dog or cat is killed every 90 seconds in a U.S. shelter. That's why Best Friends is working to get more pets out of shelters and into loving homes. We believe that every dog and cat deserves a home, and we're not alone. 85% of adults in the United States believe it's important or essential to have no-kill shelters in their area. We believe we can get all pets out of shelters and into homes in 2025, but we need your help.
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.
The latest: Here’s what’s happening in shelters
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.
For a shelter to achieve what we consider no-kill, 90% of the cats and dogs coming into the shelter must be saved. Typically, the number of dogs and cats who are suffering from irreparable medical or behavioral issues that compromise their quality of life and prevent them from being rehomed is not more than 10% of all dogs and cats entering shelters.
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. To determine where shelters need the most help, we’re using our latest data to inform our decisions and looking for new ways to save more lives.
A declaration to reach no-kill in 2025
In 2016, Best Friends CEO Julie Castle declared Best Friends’ intention to end the killing of dogs and cats in shelters in 2025 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 around 415,000 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. That’s how we landed on the year 2025. And now that we’re almost there, 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 in 2025 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 in 2025, 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 in 2025 and beyond.
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Support your local animal shelter or rescue group
It is so important to support shelters where you live. Thousands of public and private shelters, rescue groups, spay/neuter organizations, and other animal welfare groups throughout the U.S. are all working to save the lives of dogs and cats in communities like yours.
Each and every one of these animal shelters and rescue groups needs caring people like you to adopt, foster, donate, volunteer, and advocate to help save the lives of pets where you live.
Find an animal shelter or rescue group near you today:
Let's be friends!
Connect with us on social media to stay in the loop about the lifesaving progress we’re making together. And we'll send you all the ways you can help save homeless pets when you give us your email address.
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.
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 in 2025.
About Best Friends
Best Friends Animal Society is working to save the lives of cats and dogs all across the country, giving pets second chances and happy homes.
Just a few short years ago, cats and dogs were killed in staggering numbers in this country simply because shelters didn't have the community support or the resources to save their lives. That number is now less than half a million per year, but there’s still work to do to ensure a bright future for every dog and cat in America.
Best Friends operates the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals and is committed to saving the lives of homeless pets by working with shelters and passionate people like you. Together, we will bring the whole country to no-kill in 2025 and beyond. Together, we will Save Them All.
