Rescue Ends Euthanasia in Dogs

The foundation also has become adept at marketing and public relations, working with local businesses and media to run adopt-a-thons and otherwise spread the word. The Hard Rock Cafe recently helped place nearly 250 animals in a four-hour adoption fest, and local television stations have given plenty of free publicity to the center, also spurring adoptions. In addition, Herro struck a deal with Budget Rent-A-Car to run monthly adoption opportunities and has run promotions including half-price adoption days.

A foster program for nursing mothers, their offspring and orphans under 8 weeks old  all animals that were once routinely killed  is also saving lives. Mobile adoptions and lower prices for less adoptable animals also contribute to the effort.

Although Herro walked into the project with no experience as an animal advocate, she now not only runs the Animal Foundation but also serves as media relations director, promoter, marketing guru and all-around publicity whiz. But wearing the many hats doesn't faze her because the result is the reward, she said.

"If you've got the lives to save, you become whatever you have to become to save those lives," she said. "You're faced with these little kittens you're supposed to, by contract, kill, and you say, 'I can't.' So you say, how can I save them?"

The foundation signs up to 800 animal adoptions per month. From 1995 to 1997, the adoption rates jumped to 44 percent from 14 percent  an increase Herro calls "incredible" for a municipal shelter. The high adoption rate, coupled with the spay/neuter clinic, makes the zero-euthanasia goal for adoptable pets not only possible but also probable.

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