Euthanasia is a sensitive, heartbreaking, and difficult matter to discuss and understand. No one is more aware of this, than those who love animals, and drown in unwanted litters and pets every single day in the rescue, pound, and shelter professions. We do not create these issues, we respond to them.
We believe that animals should be saved from suffering the terrible fates of street life, the cruelty of human beings desperate to be rid of them, and the risks that follow being left alone on rural roads.
We serve our community openly and consistently, because our door is always open to animals in need, including owner surrenders from this county. We are providing much needed services, that few neighboring county shelters and societies provide.
If we choose to be “no kill” (only accepting highly adoptable animals and saying no to hundreds in need) then there is nowhere for the others to go. To us, this is not acceptable. However, it does not come without an emotional, physical, and monetary cost.
https://www.peta.org/features/turned-away-closer-look-kill/
Limited admission shelters pick and choose the pets they admit, they are often referred to as “no kill” shelters. This means that they are not taking in most animals, primarily animals that are not able to be re-homed, and limit intake. These “no kill” operations are simply leaving others to the euthanasia burden.
Our Save Rates by the Years:
2016: 202+ adoption, rescue, return to owner
(Limited data available)
2017: 487 adoption, rescue, RTO
2018: 599 adoption, rescue, RTO
2019: 531 adoption, rescue, RTO
2020: 443 adoption, rescue, RTO
2021: 578 adoption, rescue, RTO
2022: 933 adoption, rescue, RTO
2023: 862 adoption, rescue, RTO
2024: 778 adoption, rescue, RTO
We know that doing the right thing is not always easy, and may not always be understood. But because we care about animals, we will not allow them to die painful deaths. We also do not release animals we have observed & determined to be dangerous. We feel deep compassion for our animals, and want more for them than lives restricted to a cage with no hopes of adoption. We must euthanize due to severe illness, failure to thrive, & behavioral problems. Sadly—this also includes overcrowding. It cannot be avoided without saying NO to hundreds of animals with nowhere to turn. Leading to abandonment, neglect, and unnecessary cruelty.
Due to the overwhelming burden other counties have placed upon us, we only admit stray and owner dogs from within our county as of 2024. Beginning 2025, we will only admit dying, injured, or suffering cats and kittens from outside this county as well. It is long past time, for shelters and societies, to be more responsible for the community they serve.
This difficult decision was made in hopes to ease the overwhelm we’ve experienced and reserve our resources for our own county and the programs we provide. We are a 501c3, limited budget operation here. We rely on donations for 80% of our budget.
If we continue to receive other counties animals for them and take on the euthanasia they refuse to do, how can we ever hope for much needed policy change?
Call your dog pound and no kill shelter or society for help. Please always try rescues in your area as well. All dog pounds are required to accept stray dogs from within their county.
https://www.peta.org/features/deadly-consequences-no-kill-policies/
Our mission & duty as animal caregivers is to prevent the suffering of hundreds of unwanted animals. HATA is committed to ending pet overpopulation and we use our funding to assist with spay and neuter, trap fix return, and surrender prevention. But this cannot be accomplished without the support and proactive approach within our community, and personal responsibility for unwanted litters. Choosing to buy or breed animals vs. adoption also harms those sitting in shelters all over our country.
Our euthanasia technicians are trained, certified, and attended the necessary on site training & clinical. This training course designed and approved by the Humane Society of the United States. In order to perform humane euthanasia in a shelter setting, we hold all credentials and state required licensures.