Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, an Asheville-based animal rescue nonprofit, recently announced a major new community effort to go door-to-door inthe area and educate residents about its no-kill philosophy. Brother Wolf says it is the largest no-kill shelter organization in the state.
Earlier this year, Brother Wolf purchased about 80 acres in Leicester. Brother Wolf is currently located at 31 Glendale Ave. along Swannanoa River Road in Asheville.
Here’s more about the project, dubbed No Kill Asheville.
From NoKillAsheville.org:
At any given time, there are over 550 dogs and cats in our care. Many are animals surrendered to us by local citizens. Most are animals we rescue from the county shelter on a weekly basis— these include special needs dogs and cats who would not make it out without our help. We also operate the only Community Cats program in our area— outdoor cats are currently the highest risk animals in the local shelter system.
Our mission is to provide the programs and resources necessary to achieve a sustainable, no-kill community, where no dogs or cats are killed for population control, and euthanasia is reserved only for animals who are irremediably suffering with no remaining quality of life, or for animals who are truly a threat to society and with no hope of rehabilitation.
Over the past several years, through our shelter rescue, pet adoption programs, community cats work, and spay-neuter assistance, we have helped achieve significant reductions in the number of animals killed in the local shelter system.
Indeed, just last year, 1,693 cats and dogs were “euthanized” at the county shelter¹. That number actually represents good progress from years past, but shows we still have quite a ways to go to achieve No-Kill.
We now know we can’t just spay-neuter and adopt our way to No-Kill: we know we must work equally hard to help keep cats and dogs from ever entering the shelter system in the first place.
And ultimately, we know that true, sustainable change will only come when we’ve had a paradigm shift in our community about the responsibilities of pet guardianship: that surrendering your pet to the local shelter system should only ever be a last resort.
So, as part of our No-kill Asheville campaign, we are training volunteers to go neighborhood by neighborhood, door to door, to talk to fellow citizens about the No-Kill mission in our community. Our volunteers educate folks about the local resources available to help their pets with medical or behavioral issues— and we help families in need connect with those resources…
Sometimes we find that pets in need are also part of a family in-crisis. When we do, our staff and volunteers work with relevant local agencies to help these families get access to the services they need.
We also often encounter neighbors at odds with each other over the care of their pets. Sometimes these feuds have been going on for years…
It was just a generation or so ago, that if someone’s dog got out or cat got loose, some good neighbor would catch it and walk it back over. Or if a neighbor’s dog was barking or cat messing in the garden, we’d walk over and try to talk things through. Or if a neighbor was in crisis and needed help caring for their pets, their kids, or their self, folks would get involved and give help…
