NKUT

I'm sure you have seen these ads around, they are everywhere (especially in the newspaper). What are these mysterious ads all about? NKUT stands for No Kill Utah, an initiative started by the Best Friends Animal Society last March. This is an effort to make the state of Utah a "no kill state", a title held by only New Hampshire. No kill shelters get their status by not using euthanasia on animals that are unadoptable to make more room for other animals. A No Kill state would have to meet the criteria of 90 percent of the animals that enter shelters leave the shelter alive. Utah is right on track to achieving this goal by 2019, they saved 70 percent of animals last year in 2013. The Best Friends Animal Society plans are to provide spay/neuter services where they are needed most so that fewer animals go into shelters, and increase adoptions so that more animals are placed into new homes. They have spent one million dollars on this initiative, and are determined to make it aware to every single person in Utah.

A great way to help lower shelter euthanasia is to tell others about the importance of spaying or neutering their pet. In the span of 7 years, A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420,000 kittens. Refer to this graphic courtesy of peta.org for an idea of how many shelter animals' lives you can create just by not spaying or neutering your pet.

If you really want more pets, it's a lot easier to go to the shelter and adopt. You will feel great because you saved a life and got a new companion for life! Although make sure that you really are committed because if you do return that animal, it can damage it's self esteem and will most likely be more unadoptable and can even lead to its euthanization.Now, some people don't believe in this method that shelters use. If the animal is really "unadoptable", is it ethical to euthanize it to make room for another that can be adopted? If you really feel strong of this issue, the first step is to spread awareness and inform others and limit the number of animals put in shelters by spaying or neutering your pet. This lowers the abundant amount of stray/shelter animals so the ones already there have a chance to be given a home. These are the methods that NKUT hopes will bring Utah to a no kill state.

References:

nkut.org

peta.org

SL Tribune