Sarah Lowe, Delta Pound's Manager, is quoted saying, "There is no such thing as a no-kill shelter."

That's not correct - there are thousands of no-kill shelters all over North America including in BC. What there isn't many of are no-kill pounds.

Pounds exist to control animals, mainly stray and dangerous dogs. Pounds kill animals for various reasons: the better the pound, the fewer the reasons. A pound's first mandate is to protect the public from dangerous dogs. It's other primary purpose is to dispose of "pest pets"-- unclaimed, unwanted dogs and cats, rabbits, gerbils, etc. Pounds are both public safety and pest-pet disposal agencies.

Pounds kill for several reasons, one is because it's by far the cheapest method of disposal, far cheaper than selling (unless the animal sells in a few days). Pounds may have excellent intentions, but they have to kill dogs that are, or seem likely to be, a danger to the public. We don't argue with the necessity of this. Since our laws permit dogs to be desocialized on chains, in pens, 24/7 in yards, bred, sold and owned by anyone, etc, some of them will attack someone, usually a child member of the family, or if they escape, a child on the street. This means there still has to be a tax-payer funded agency to protect the public from stray and dangerous dogs.

The best pounds have rehabilitation programs for dogs and cats with behaviour problems. The best pounds don't kill feral cats, or kill cats for having colds, or if they are timid, by labelling them "unadoptable" and then killing them. The best pounds don't take owner-surrendered animals because they know that they will get a lot of difficult animals dumped on them that they may have to kill. They know that unlimited surrender means overcrowding, disease and death. It is not the mandate of a pound to take responsibility for owners or for taxpayers to pay to dispose of people's unwanted pets.

Do you know if your municipal pound kills feral cats or cats with colds, or dogs that could be rehabilitated? Phone your municipal hall and ask them who runs your pound and ask them if your pound kills rabbits, feral cats, cats with colds, and dogs that only need more time or training or some rotten teeth removed, or infected ears treated.