Jim Acosta's Duke

Recently CNN's Jim Acosta announced he has adopted a dog, Duke, and thanked Best Friends the largest no-kill sanctuary in the US for bringing Duke into his life. Duke is one pup among the 18 pets found in an abandoned house in Arkansas. In his tweet, Jim Acosta mentioned that all the other dogs have been successfully placed with foster families.

The Best Friends Animal Society was formed in 1984 when a group of friends relocated to the Utah desert to create a sanctuary because they believed that every pet was worth saving. This is what the website says about who they are " Today, the Sanctuary remains our anchor, and as we’ve grown, our national network partners and pet life-saving centers have become hubs for innovation and inspiration. We’re bringing tangible lifesaving tactics to shelters and rescue groups across the U.S, touching every community in the country."

The sanctuary, a home between homes for the animals, currently houses 1,600 rescued dogs and cats, horses, birds, rabbits, potbellied pigs, farm animals, and more. Some of the pets featured on their website who are in need of a sponsor are Ember the cat, Caboodle the dog, and Batman the pig.

Considering the heartbreaking number of pets (347,000) that were gotten rid of by animal shelters just because they had no place to call home, it is commendable that Best Friends is leading the no-kill movement in the following ways:

1. Running life-saving community programs for dogs and cats.

2. By providing support and training to animal shelters.

3. By mobilizing community members for pets in need across the country.

According to Best Friends Animal Society, all but one state with the highest euthanasia rates are based in the South. At the top of the list is Texas with 125,000 animals killed in shelters, which is followed by California -110,000, then Florida - 66,000, North Carolina - 62,000, and last but not least is Georgia with 43,000.

Even though a pet may be of a sweet temperament or well behaved, these shelters are forced to euthanize the pets based on the duration of their stay in order to make cage space available for new arrivals. Another reason for euthanization is to prevent the spread of disease, the possibility of which is very high considering there are no health standards when the pets are taken in.

According to the No Kill Advocacy Center, 75% of Americans believe that animals should not be killed if they are healthy or can be treated. And yet around 30% of pets in shelters are abandoned by their owners for various reasons such as sickness, lifestyle changes, debt, aggressive behavior displayed by the pet.

The Lynn Journal Massachusetts as having an 80.86% save rate for shelter pets and ranks #36 in pet shelter deaths.

No-kill shelters are animal shelters that do not kill healthy or treatable animals and only resort to euthanasia in the case of terminally ill animals or those considered dangerous to public safety. A shelter is considered "no-kill" if it has a 90 percent “live release rate” — meaning that nine of every 10 animals admitted leaves alive.

One of the ways to help the situation and these animals is to adopt a pet from a kill shelter. Other ways of giving, as suggested by the Best Friends Animal Society include donating your car, truck, boat, or trailer, sponsoring an animal, gifting a membership, pet memorials, and creating personal fundraising activities for the benefit of the animals.

A version of this article was published on NewsBreak.

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