No-kill does not equal no euthanasia.
A no-kill shelter is an animal shelter that does not euthanize healthy or treatable animals based on time limits or capacity, reserving euthanasia for terminally ill animals, animals suffering poor quality of life, or those considered dangerous to public safety.
To be considered no-kill, organizations need to have a live release rate of 90% or higher. So what about the other 10% of animals?
Due to severe or untreatable illnesses or behavior issues, animal welfare organizations (SHS included) sometimes face the difficult decision to euthanize an animal, but only when we’ve exhausted all other options.
Animals who are candidates for adoption have no time limit in our shelter ― they can stay as long as they need to find their happy new beginning.
We pour our hearts into caring for each and every animal, but if an animal’s health continues to decline or it’s deemed a danger to the community, humane euthanasia may be the best outcome for that animal. Euthanasia, while difficult, can be an act of compassion for animals who are suffering.
Below you will find our yearly intake/outcome statistics and live release rate since 2020.
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Beginning Counts: Jan. 1st | ||||||
| Cats | 83 | 32 | 61 | 63 | 71 | 98 |
| Dogs | 7 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 24 | 19 |
| Pocket Pets | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Total Rollover from previous year | 91 | 46 | 68 | 76 | 96 | 120 |
| Intakes: | ||||||
| Cats-Stray | 334 | 344 | 352 | 401 | 406 | |
| Dogs-Stray | 80 | 70 | 104 | 129 | 131 | |
| Pocket Pets-Stray | 0 | 15 | 21 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cats-Transfers | 0 | 3 | 25 | 19 | 3 | |
| Dogs-Transfers | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pocket Pets-Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Cats-Surrendered | 196 | 191 | 248 | 148 | 194 | |
| Dogs-Surrendered | 36 | 32 | 25 | 21 | 16 | |
| Pocket Pets-Surrendered | 9 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 3 | |
| Cats-Seized/Public Quarantine | 1 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Dogs-Seized/Public Quarantine | 9 | 12 | 10 | 21 | 8 | |
| Pocket Pets-Seized/Public Quarantine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total Intake | 665 | 682 | 783 | 745 | 762 | |
| Dispositions: | ||||||
| Cats-Adoptions | 473 | 427 | 529 | 484 | 532 | |
| Dogs-Adoptions | 54 | 51 | 38 | 70 | 88 | |
| Pocket Pets-Adoptions | 6 | 20 | 25 | 3 | 2 | |
| Cats-Transferred out | 75 | 33 | 5 | 6 | 1 | |
| Dogs-Transferred out | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
| Pocket Pets-Transferred out | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cats-Returned to owner | 24 | 30 | 40 | 30 | 37 | |
| Dogs-Returned to owner | 72 | 66 | 95 | 85 | 64 | |
| Pocket Pets-Returned to owner | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cats-Died in care | 11 | 16 | 51 | 33 | 19 | |
| Dogs-Died in care | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Pocket Pets-Died in care | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cats-Euthanized | 4 | 9 | 2 | 21 | 11 | |
| Dogs-Euthanized | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | |
| Pocket Pets-Euthanized | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total Dispositions | 723 | 655 | 789 | 742 | 763 | |
| Live release rate | 97% | 95% | 93% | 92% | 94% | |
| Note: Live release rate is live outcomes divided by total dispositions. | ||||||