No-Kill Animal Shelters: What They Are and Where to Find Them in Colorado

Growing up, I lived on a very busy highway with the picturesque name of "Hwy. 666". Seriously. It's since changed it's name but that's not really my point - being on a highway, our yard constantly found itself home to dozens of unwanted pets. People would drive by, usually at night, drop the pet off and hope it would wander into a yard where it would be loved.

I recently had a new brush with pet abandonment. When the tenants of one of my mother's rentals moved out (one of whom actually works for a pet store!) they left behind a 6-foot Iguana to freeze and starve. I now have the freaky creature perched in a massive habitat in my apartment, and have just this morning picked up a 5-week-old kitten that decided I looked safe enough to charge at a dead-run when I took my daughter to school.

People abandon their pets for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that they simply can't take care of the pet and hope that someone else will find and love it rather than have it be put to sleep at the local pound. The problem is that most of us kind-hearted souls that run across the scared pets can't really take care of them, either - I'm seriously pushing the limits of my lease with Mr. Lizard, as the Iguana has been dubbed, and will have to find a home for Baby Boy the kitten.

Before you just turn away the next time you see a stray, thinking the same as their previous owner did - they'll find a loving home and not be euthanized at the pound - consider taking the pet in long enough to get them to a no-kill animal shelter. They won't starve, get run over, be abused, attacked by other animals, or the other myriad things that can happen to an animal on its own.

What Is a No-Kill Animal Shelter?

No-kill shelters are, simply enough, a type of animal shelter with an anti-euthanasia policy for the animals they give shelter to. Why is this so important? Each day, an estimated 70,000 puppies and kittens are born - 25.5 million a year. Of these, six to ten million will be euthanized.