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beginning
Best Friends becomes the flagship for the no-kill movement. Rich Avanzino, largely regarded as the Father of the no-kill movement is president of San Francisco SPCA. Avanzino gives notice to the city of San Francisco that the society will end animal control services for the city in 1989. -
forming a property
The San Francisco SPCA hands animal control back to the city and the newly formed Department of Animal Care and Control and focuses on making San Francisco a no-kill city. Ed Duvin writes his revolutionary article “In the Name of Mercy.” Duvin makes a rational appeal for a new ethic in animal sheltering, questioning conventional wisdom about the kindest way to relate to homeless animals. It sets the philosophical stage for the no-kill movement. -
Alley cat allies
Alley Cat Allies is founded by Becky Robinson and Louise Holton. ACA gives voice to feral cats on a national stage and introduces trap/neuter/return as the most humane and practical method for relating to community cats. -
magazine publishing
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary begins publishing Best Friends Magazine and it quickly becomes the national voice of the no-kill movement and the largest general interest animal publication in the United States. -
San Francisco
San Francisco becomes the nation's first no-kill city when the San Francisco SPCA, under Rich Avanzino, establishes an adoption pact with the Department of Animal Care and Control. New Hampshire, led by Peter Marsh founder and president of STOP (Solutions To Overpopulation Problems) launches the nation's first publicly funded state-wide spay/neuter campaign and first large scale targeting of low income pet owners. New Hampshire's intake drops by a third in six years. -
No-kill conference
Doing Things For Animals hosts the first no-kill conference in Phoenix, Arizona with 75 people in attendance and puts together the first national directory of no-kill organizations. Craig Brestrup, then director of the Progressive Animal Welfare Society, writes the book, Disposable Animals, challenging the commonly held premise that if animals are not euthanized in shelters they likely face fates worse than death. -
promote
Dave Duffield, the CEO of People Soft, establishes Maddie's Fund with $300 million to promote no-kill communities and appoints Rich Avanzino as president. Mike Arms launches Home 4 the Holidays, making the adoption of shelter animals a national mainstream marketing event that leads to several million shelter pets finding homes. -
No more in Utah
No More Homeless Pets in Utah, a program of Best Friends Animal Society launches the first statewide no-kill campaign. It's funded by Maddie's Fund. No More Homeless Pets in Utah goes on to adopt over 100,000 animals, spay and neuter 237,000, achieve 12 no-kill communities (and counting), and currently has over an 85 percent save rate for dogs statewide. -
first conference
Best Friends holds its first No More Homeless Pets Conference in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with more than 300 attendees. -
Charlottesville-Alvermarle
The community of Charlottesville-Albemarle, under the leadership of Susanne Kogut of the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, becomes the most substantial community to go no-kill since the San Francisco SPCA. -
Nathan Winograd
Nathan Winograd writes the book Redemption to educate the public about the myth of pet overpopulation and the story of animal sheltering in America, inspiring many to follow the codification and refinement of Rich Avanzino's San Francisco model. -
Nevada humane society
The Nevada Humane Society, under the leadership of Bonney Brown, creates the largest no-kill metropolitan area in America, making Washoe County, Nevada one of the safest communities in the country for homeless animals. -
Calgary, Alberta
Calgary, Alberta, a city of over 1 million residents, becomes the largest no-kill city in the world under the leadership of Bill Bruce at Calgary Animal Services. Bruce achieved no-kill through an enforcement/community relations model. For several years before 2010, Calgary achieved no-kill for dogs under Bruce's leadership. The city council in Austin, Texas, votes in a plan to make Austin a no-kill city. -
no-kill month
Led by Ellen Jefferson and Austin Pets Alive!, Austin records its first no-kill month in February 2011, and has maintained a no-kill status since then. Dozens of communities throughout the country make a declaration of intent to go no-kill and several achieve the 90 percent no-kill save rate. -
Los Angeles
Best Friends Animal Society launches No-Kill Los Angeles (NKLA), an initiative to achieve no-kill in America's second-largest city. Over 60 communities in the United States achieve a 90 percent no-kill save rate. Today, nearly 30 years after the no-kill movement begins, shelters deaths are estimated around 4 million per year. -
LA reduces amount
Los Angeles reduces the amount of animals being killed in shelters by 50 percent. On track to make the city no-kill by 2017. -
goal for 2019
Best Friends Animal Society launches No-Kill Utah (NKUT), an initiative to achieve no-kill in Utah by 2019.
