Who is Nathan J. Winograd?

Winograd graduated from Stanford Law School and has worked as a criminal prosecutor and a corporate attorney. He took a model that was created in San Francisco and developed it into the No Kill Equation. Winograd started making history in 2001 when he transformed Tompkins County into the first rural No Kill community (where all shelters within the district are No Kill shelters). On the first weekend, seventy kittens were dumped at the shelter. usually they would be killed, but Winograd explained to the staff that "killing for space was no longer an option". They were all rehomed. Winograd is the founder and Executive Director of the No Kill Advocacy Center. He has assisted in animal legislation and has written two books 'Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America' and 'Irreconcilable Differences' and has co-written a book with his wife Jennifer called 'All American Vegan' and 'Friendly Fire'.

What are the No Kill programs & services?

The No Kill programs and services are a series of 11 programs. They are life saving, cost effective, community orientated and are environmentally friendly. No Kill shelters exist in rural and urban areas, they are both open and closed admission and are both publically and privately owned. The No Kill programs and services will increase a shelter or pound live release rate to atleast 90 percent. There are some shelters in the United States that have achieved up to 98 percent.

The No Kill Programs & Services are:

For a full version of The No Kill Equation click here.

Do the No Kill Equation programs and services exist in Australia?

Yes. The RSPCA in Canberra has implemented 10 out of the 11 programs and services. Their current save rates include 94% for dogs, 67% for cats and this year they have reached 90% for kittens. The RSPCA ACT Director, Michael Linke had a vision for life saving, and has succeeded through leadership, determination, compassion and imagination.

Is there enough homes for all the dogs and cats?

Yes. The Australian Companion Animal Council Inc. (page 48) reported in 2009 that Australian's bought 450,000 dogs and 164,500 cats. The figures do not include sales from backyard breeders, online and print media, small shelters and the Animal Welfare League. The annual purchase number of over 600,000 dogs and cats is much higher.

Deathrowpets has estimated that Australia kills over 250,000 homeless dogs and cats every year in pounds and shelters.

No Kill shelters redirect the purchasing back to the shelter. Even if Australian shelters redirected only half the sales back to shelters, there still would be enough homes to rehome healthy, trainable and treatable dogs and cats.

Are the public irresponsible?

No. There are two fundamental differences between a kill shelter and a No Kill shelter. The first ofcourse is the live release rate. The second is kill shelters blame the public for the killing that they themselves do, due to the failings of a model that they choose to use. A No Kill shelter embraces the community. In communities that have implemented the No Kill programs and services, it was the shelter that changed, not the community.

Do Australian's care about pets?

Yes. In 2009, Australians spent over $6 billion on pets, pet care products and services. Our pets are cherished and have become an important part of Australian life. Moreover, marketing continually uses dogs and cats to sell unrelated pet products like real estate, toilet paper, paint, telephone products and much more. Even marketing specialist know that Australians love their pets.

Shelters, in their own definition, are places that provide protection. Not only are our shelters using a failed model, decade after decade, but they continue to do so when they have access to tools that would enable them to save lives, and truly accomplish their mission statements, visions and perform to the expectations of the Australian community.