No Kill shelters seem like a nice idea, except when supply/demand issues forces the shelter into bleeding money. 90% of the ones I have witnessed have failed.
Can you imagine doing this on the scale of the entire state of CA?
@catfish1957 It works because they is a nationwide chain they use to get rid of excess animals when there are too many in one spot.
Also,it's not really all that hard to get rid of tame cats or most dogs that have all their shots and have been "fixed". Yeah,dogs like Great Danes or pit bulls can be a little harder to find homes for,but for most dogs it's not a problem.
The last two cats I got from an animal shelter had been in the house of a hoarder,and I had to be talked into taking them. My old house cats had died of old age,and I needed a couple of cats to keep the mice and snakes away,so I went to the local SPCA. At that time they really didn't have any that could be adopted,other than the father and daughter Tuxedo cats they talked me into taking. The old tom was hiding in the part of the cage with the litter box,and had his nose stuck in a corner and was trembling in fear. Nothing I could do would get him to look at me. Not even when I picked him up and turned him to face me. He closed his eyes to avoid eye contact.
The daughter wasn't much better. She was laying in the cage by the door,and would just stare with the saddest eyes,looking like she wanted to die.
Against my better judgement I paid the money and took them both home because they were the only cats there that hadn't already been spoken for. Took a couple of weeks to gain their trust,but they finally came around and were very nice,friendly cats. The old Tom only lasted a few months. One night I heard him jump up on the counter where the cat food dish was,and then I heard him moan and hit the floor. He was dead by the time I got to him. I think his heart just gave out.
His daughter is laying a couple of feet from me now,sleeping. She is very gentle and very loving. For some odd reason she never purrs,though. She does like to jump on my chest when I am laying down,and rub her checks up against my chin and nose,though.
All is all,I am glad I let the shelter people talk me into taking them.