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SALT LAKE CITY — 2024 will be the year that Utah animal shelters commit to the no-kill philosophy, Gov. Spencer Cox declared on Tuesday.
"Utah is on the cusp of achieving no-kill and Gov. Cox's declaration gives the movement an extra push to achieve this momentous accomplishment in 2024," Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society, said. "Forty years ago, Best Friends made Utah its home state with Best Friends Animal Society Sanctuary in Kanab. Now in 2024, it just makes sense for no-kill to be on the horizon for the Beehive State."
This means Utah would become the largest no-kill state in the country.
For a state to become a no-kill state, shelters will save the lives of pets. According to data from Best Friends, 47 out of 60 shelters across the state are no-kill.
So far, 45,538 furry friends have been saved. The total save rate is 87.8%, while 1,700 cats and dogs have been killed. This data was formulated from shelters' most recent data (in years 2021, 2022 or 2023).
The goal for Utah isn't just to be a no-kill state, a release announcing the declaration said. It's to have every shelter "make a clear commitment to pet lifesaving and transparency while working to achieve and sustain no-kill in philosophy and practice."
"Utah continues to make significant progress in pet lifesaving, and it takes a collaborative approach to achieve no-kill. Community members, local shelters and rescue groups, and government officials must take Gov. Cox's words to heart as we all commit to 2024 as the year Utah goes no-kill," the release said.
Throughout the last few years, Utah animal shelters have increasingly become no-kill.
One of the difficulties shelters face is an overpopulation of cats. "Shelters really struggle because they get an influx of kittens during the summer months that it's hard for them to have the capacity to handle them," Holly Sizemore, chief mission officer at Best Friends Animal Society, told the Deseret News.
Trap-neuter-return policies and community cat programs have helped shelters save the lives of cats.
Community cats are just what they sound like — the community provides food and water for the cat while the cat roams around the neighborhood.
Another option is trap-neuter-return. Sometimes there are cat colonies, a group of three or more feral cats who roam around together. They have a territory they cover and these cats will fend for themselves in terms of resources. Shelters sometimes will trap these cats, neuter them and then return them to their colonies after their ears are snipped.
"The vast majority of (cats that adoption centers get) are feral. And then those rescues and shelters are doing sterilization and getting those kittens adopted," Natalie Orr, board member at Celestial Zoo Pet Rescue, told the Deseret News. "So by cutting off the supply, by getting these animals fixed, we are helping to reduce the number of cats that are just coming in."
Fostering and adopting are another way to help.
"Fostering is a great short-term commitment for people who can't bring home a pet permanently, but can for a couple of weeks," Guinn Shuster, director of marketing at the Humane Society of Utah, said. "That often helps the shelters open up space for an animal that can move through in that same time and get adopted."
