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MARL is NOT a No Kill Shelter.
We are absolutely working towards and support a “no-kill community” where every animal has a loving home.
Animal overpopulation requires a total community effort to reduce and control unwanted and abandoned dogs, cats and horses and provide homes by adopting shelter animals.
Every day our mission is to reach that goal of “a home for every pet” by doing all of the following:
- Housing homeless animals for adoption through our generous supporters MARL has placed over 62,000 animals in loving homes
- Returning lost animals to owners we average about 250 per year
- Spaying or neutering all adopted animals
- Offering affordable low cost spay/neuter surgeries to individuals with low income
- Educating the community on how to care for pets
- Working with local, state, and national agencies and officials to improve laws regarding animals
- Providing as much vet care as possible for shelter animals
- Lending traps to the public to trap stray dogs and control feral cat colonies
…and so much more.
As a society and community we either work to control and reduce abandoned and homeless animals, or we ignore them and let their numbers and their suffering rise unchecked. Having thousands of stray dogs and cats in central Mississippi that are not spayed or neutered is not a healthy situation. Cats can start having kittens at 4 1/2 months and dogs can have puppies at 6 months.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals (ASPCA) estimates that only 10 percent of the animals received by shelters have been spayed or neutered. About 75 percent of owned pets are neutered.
MARL accepts every animal that comes in the door from an individual or animal control.
On average we take in 50-60 animals a day with even higher numbers in the summer, often as many as 100. As an “open admissions shelter” we have difficult daily decisions to make regarding space and capacity that “no kill” shelters do not have to make, as they turn animals away when they are full.
There is no state or federal agency to take the excess animals. City animal controls work hard to control stray dogs and cats, investigate animal cruelty and hoarding, and pick up pets that are lost from their homes. MARL receives the animals from 15 animal control agencies in a four county area.
We normally operate at or near capacity. We do not have unlimited resources but depend on donations. Because of our space and resource limitations, we must choose animals that are ready for adoption over those that are too sick, too young, or have serious behavioral issues. The decisions are heartbreaking, but we must do the best for the greatest number of animals.
What is a no-kill shelter?
With a limited-admissions shelter or “no-kill” shelter, a relatively small numbers of pets are accepted each year (often in the hundreds rather than the 13,000 that MARL receives) because an animal may remain there for months or years if not adopted. Limited-admissions shelters may work with animals needing rehabilitation or special needs in limited numbers. Once a limited-admissions shelter’s kennels or foster homes are full, they turn animals away.
MARL has been and continues to be the leader in shelter adoptions in Central Mississippi. Until the communities in central Mississippi come together to decrease the overpopulation of animals, primarily through strong spay/neuter programs, animals will be put down, because there are no homes available.