In the news: The No Kill Companion (2025 Edition). PETA is promoting adoptions which could mean only one thing: their 2024 statistics are about to be released. The latest city to ban the pet store sales of milled pets. Like “shelters,” wildlife rehabilitation centers go from bad to worse. Do you have what it takes to save lives? Communities are looking for people to run or help run their animal shelters. Animal “shelters” and other government institutions increasingly turn their backs on cats; lawsuits may force them to do their jobs. The latest state to ban declawing. 2024 was a mediocre year; 2025 may be worse. Mass dog killing at a historically abusive pound. A lawsuit accuses a local “shelter” of improper cat killing. The end of horse racing in Northern California is within reach.
These are some of the stories making headlines in animal protection:
The No Kill Companion (2025 Edition)
The 2025 edition of The No Kill Companion is now available.
The definitive guide to animal shelter issues, The No Kill Companion is a reference manual for legislators, policymakers, shelter managers, board members, media, advocates, and other stakeholders.
Short encyclopedia-like entries address the definition of No Kill, opposition, challenges, controversies, and threats to success. The book also discusses the state of the movement, covers the costs and benefits of No Kill animal services, and provides model legislation, shelter assessment tools, and a primer on various sheltering issues.
Updated topics include:
The definition of No Kill;
History of the No Kill movement;
State of the movement today;
Sample assessment tools and protocols for running a municipal No Kill shelter;
Animal protection legislation;
Primer on various shelter issues, including temperament testing, community cats, and dog behavior;
And more.
There is also a 10-pack for shelter board members, legislators, and other stakeholders.
Please note: 10-packs will begin shipping in mid-February but can be purchased now.
PETA is promoting adoptions, which could mean only one thing: their 2024 statistics are about to be released

Every year at this time — as surely as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west — you can be certain that PETA will start promoting spay/neuter and adoption. They do so to divert attention away from the second predictable thing that will occur: the Virginia Department of Agriculture will release PETA’s statistics for the prior year, and — while communities across Virginia and the country will have reported placement rates as high as 99% — PETA will once again have needlessly killed the overwhelming majority of animals.
Those statistics are due on Friday of this week. PETA always waits until the deadline to submit them and it is no secret as to why. They show that the organization runs the functional equivalent of a slaughterhouse.
In 2023, for example, PETA put to death 1,527 out of 1,888 cats. Another 341 went to pounds that also kill animals. Historically, many of the kittens and cats PETA has taken to those pounds have been killed, often within minutes, despite being young (as young as six weeks old) and healthy. They only adopted out 20 cats, an adoption rate of 1% despite millions of “animal loving” supporters, a staff of hundreds, and revenues of over $82 million. To date, PETA has killed 48,835 dogs and cats and sent thousands more to be killed at local pounds that we know of. The number is arguably many times higher.
What will 2024 statistics show? Stay tuned…
Another city bans pet store sales of milled pets