For over a decade, the Salt Lake County Animal Services have been a no-kill shelter. Over 90% of the stray animals that come through their facility are saved. Getting there has taken a lot of dedicated work from both those working with SLC Animal Services and the community.
Ashley Bales, the Communication and Development Coordinator for the SLC Animal Services, emphasizes the many approaches they take to keep their shelter no-kill. First, they start with educating the community, “We’ve got a humane education coordinator that specializes in going out into the community and educating all the way from kindergarten, pre-school age, all the way up to adults [on] how to be a good pet owner but also what to see if you see a stray animal and the importance of spay and neutering.” Another resource they rely on is fostering, which not only keeps room open in the shelters for more animals, but also reduces the stress of the animals by putting them in a home. To help with their supplies, they rely on donation drives and partnerships, “We really wouldn’t be able to do it without our community.”
To get involved and help there are a lot of options. One of these is called “Hounds Around Town”. After going through training, volunteers can take dogs out into the community. Bales explains, “They can take them for hikes, go get them a pup cup and whatnot.” She adds that the opportunity is good for those who, “May not have time right now to take on the full responsibility that an animal needs when going into a home.” Salt Lake County Animal Services also takes donations and appreciates people “spreading the word” on Instagram and Facebook.
More than just support stray pets, SLC Animal Services helps do preventative community work to ensure the stray population is minimized. While all animals that come into their care are spayed and neutered, SLC Animal Services also offers free microchipping for all Salt Lake County residents. Bales says, “That’s the fastest and easiest way for someone to get their lost dog home.” Their social media discusses this further in weekly “Microchip Monday” stories about lost animals being reunited through their microchip identification.
When asked what she wanted people to know, Bales discussed what she calls, “shelter stigma” surrounding the availability of certain pets, “We get in all types of animals from kittens to dogs. But right now we also have a parakeet…we just had a turtle recently…so we get all kinds of animals, but then we also get all kinds of breeds.” Bales emphasizes that more sought after breeds can go quickly, but that the shelter receives them– if one
