Should I Adopt from a Kill Shelter or a No-Kill Shelter?

You would think that, as a supporter of no-kill shelters, I would have well-defined views on this dilemma but as with all animal welfare questions it is not that straightforward.

 I am incredibly conflicted when it comes to this question.  If you choose to adopt from a kill shelter you are actively saving a life but you may be condemning another animal to a lifetime in a shelter, and no matter how well they may be cared for shelter life is not the same as being part of a family.  Conversely, if you choose to adopt from a no-kill shelter rather than a kill shelter you are rolling the dice with the life of another animal.  Obviously someone else may decide to adopt the animals in the kill shelter, or a no-kill shelter may intervene and save those animals . . . but if you look at the numbers nationwide the odds of this happening are not great.

So, if you find yourself having to make this choice it really is a very personal decision. In this situation, I would tend to move in favor of adopting from the kill shelter.  As I say, it means that the animals in the no-kill shelter may have to remain there for a lifetime, but at least they would be alive.  And it cannot be denied that many no-kill shelters look after their animals extremely well, considering their limited resources.

Of course, there is one final option:  organize efforts to ensure that all shelters in your area adopt true no-kill policies!  It would be too optimistic to hope that we will ever eliminate the need for rescue shelters, but if they are all no-kill shelters it would take some of the trauma out of this decision