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Best Friends Animal Society Pet Adoption Center

May 31, 2017

Best Friends Animal Society’s first Pet Adoption Center, located in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, is a national lifesaving concept space designed to raise awareness for the nearly 5,500 dogs and cats killed every day in U.S. shelters. The goal is for the new location to engage people in the work Best Friends is doing to make the country no-kill by 2025, which means that dogs and cats will no longer die in U.S. shelters due to an inability to find them homes. (“No kill” is commonly defined as a “save rate” of 90 percent of the dogs and cats entering shelters.)

This no-kill concept space introduces a “cause cooperative” model, in which the center will feature adoptable dogs and cats from nine local and regional nonprofit organizations, and the New York City-run shelter, Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC). Cooperation and coalition building is a core component for a community to achieve no-kill, and Best Friends is using the new center as a demonstration of collective impact. The center will serve as a physical demonstration of the significant progress and momentum underway to end the killing of dogs and cats in our nation’s shelters, and will invite visitors to become part of the lifesaving work.

Best Friends Animal Society is the only national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters. A leader in the no-kill movement, Best Friends runs lifesaving programs in partnership with more than 1,800 rescue groups and shelters across the country; regional centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City; and the nation’s largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. Founded in 1984, Best Friends has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters nationwide from 17 million per year to about two million. Best Friends and its nationwide network of members and partners are working to “Save Them All.”

ny.bestfriends.org

Photography courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society

how to get involved

When visiting the Best Friends Pet Adoption Center, people will be inspired and educated via adoptable dogs and cats housed in a playful, gallery-style setting designed to help tell a story about the problems and solutions facing our country’s homeless pet population. It will also feature a round-the-clock kitten nursery to bottle-feed the most vulnerable homeless pet population. Similar to a real nursery, the neonatal unit has strict protocols to ensure the health of kittens who have been separated from their mothers before they are old enough to survive without them. At any given time up to 30 animals will be housed in the Center.

If you are unable to visit, donations to the Best Friends Pet Adoption Center are accepted, including dog and cat beds. Monetary donations can be made to Best Friends Animal Society at bestfriends.org/donate.

Reach out to your local animal shelters and rescue groups to find out more ways to help meet the specific needs of those organizations.

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