No Kill in Europe--It can be done

In the US we consider No-Kill a distant goal, while in several European countries dogs and cats are not killed in public or private shelters. That is, No-Kill is a fact. However, I still have to research how they do it and whether "overpopulation" is not a problem there or how they deal with it. I got this email from an Italian academic whose article I read about successful TNR efforts in Rome led me to write her. I asked about kill rates in Rome, Italy and the rest of Europe. This is her response: From: Eugenia Natoli Subject: Cats of Rome To: "Edward Muzika" Date: Thursday, September 10, 2009, 12:40 PM Dear Dr. Muzika, I am sorry to know that there is such a high kill rate in many parts of U.S.A. It is funny that, in Italy, most of us are convinced that domestic dogs and cats are never killed abroad. Actually, the no-kill policy is enforced by law in all Italy, i.e. in Italy is forbidden to kill domestic cats and dogs, unless they are uncurable or dangerous. The public opinion is so strong that dogs are euthanised very rarely, even when they are clearly highly dangerous and they should be. In Europe there are only Austria and some regions of Spain where the no-kill policy is enforced by law, like in Italy. Unfortunately, I have no data on the kill rate in other European countries. My field is behaviour, so I have published mainly on it. I enclose a list of my publications. Let me know if you are interested in some of them, and I will send you them. Best regards Eugenia -- Eugenia Natoli Azienda USL Roma D Dipartimento Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria Ospedale Veterinario Via della Magliana, 856 00148 Roma Italia tel. +39 06 56487641 fax. +39 06 56487647 e-mail: enatoli@tiscali.it --