Just One Day a Resounding Success!!

Just One Day, a nationwide event which aims to stop the killing of shelter of animals for "just one day," took place on June 11th and was a huge success with nearly 800 animal shelters and rescue groups across the US participating in the event. Event organizers and trackers at the No Kill Advocacy Center estimate that between 7,000 and 9,000 animals were saved across the country.  Take a look at just a very few of the statistics:

Kern County stayed open for 11 hours on June 11th and adopted out 100 pets.

Houston Animal Care Services stayed open on Monday, a day that they were normally closed, and adopted out 231 pets.

Miami-Dade County (who made the amazing cake in the photo, which, even more amazingly, was baked by the supervisor of Animal Control there) adopted out 116 animals.

Which municipal and county shelters in California participated in Just One Day?  We're very encouraged to hear that 5 different city shelters in California took the pledge not to kill animals for just one day.
 
Sacramento Animal Care Services
Petaluma Animal Services
Paradise Animal Control and Shelter
Mendocino County Animal Care Services
Kern County Animal Control

Kern County wasn't shy about their participation!  Check out this ad!

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So - what happened here in Long Beach on June 11th? Long Beach Animal Care Services (LBACS), under the direction of Ted Stevens, told SALB that LBACS would make an "operational decision" not to kill any animals in the Long Beach shelter on Willow St.  on June 11th.  Though it's not as proactive a stance as we'd like to see here at SALB (especially given that the shelter is closed on Mondays, the day that June 11th fell on this year, and remained closed on that day),  we realize that it's a step in the right direction, albeit a small one.  Here are some steps that we are hoping that LBACS will take for next year's Just One Day event:

JUST ONE DAY 2013 - Long Beach, CA

• Publicly take the pledge to stop killing animals for just one day

• Stay open and take steps to actually increase adoptions on that day (for example, by reducing adoption fees)
  
• Reach out in a massive public relations campaign to advertise the day in an attempt to increase the number of animals adopted
  
• Track the number of animals saved as a result of participating in Just One Day 2013 and
• Make that information (number of animals saved) available to the public

The biggest lesson that has come out of this event is this: Together, we can stop the killing in our city's shelters.  Who needs to do it?  The shelters need to lead the charge and get the rescues and the public involved in a significant way.  As Nathan Winograd said:  "We are all partners—ready, willing, and able to work together the moment [the shelters] decide to do so."

Please let Long Beach Animal Care Services know that you support working smarter and better to save more animals from death.  Tell them you support No Kill and the No Kill Equation. It's nothing more than a focused plan that capitalizes on innovation, creativity and hard work to make killing unnecessary in our shelter. 

Are we ready? Let's Go!