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The Commensal Cat
Cats are commensal animals. This fact has some very important implications for trap-neuter-return (TNR) and for the battle to save cats...

Susan Houser
Oct 23, 20155 min read


Jacksonville Update
The southeast part of the United States used to be a graveyard of No Kill hopes. Communities in the southeast have traditionally lagged...

Susan Houser
Oct 19, 20154 min read


Expanding the Circle of Compassion
According to the American Pet Products Association, 70% of dog owners and 57% of cat owners say their pet is like a child or family...

Susan Houser
Oct 15, 20154 min read


Is This How We Treat Our Best Friend?
If a person walked up to a dog on the street and intentionally hit it with a tire iron in the face, breaking its nose and causing...

Susan Houser
Oct 10, 20156 min read


Stray Dogs in Dallas Are Facing A Disaster
In the great majority of cities and counties in the United States stray dogs are not a major problem. In the last 40 years there have...

Susan Houser
Oct 7, 20155 min read


Out the Front Door is Now on Facebook!
Dear Friends — Thank you for all your support of and interest in the blog over the years. I hope all of you will visit and “like” the...

Susan Houser
Oct 6, 20151 min read


How Many Public Shelters Are There?
[Dear Readers – This is the first in a series of occasional posts on shelter data. Not statistics on individual shelters, but more...

Susan Houser
Oct 1, 20155 min read


News Roundup 9-27-15
The animal control and sheltering situation in the state of Delaware is in transition. A private organization named the First State...

Susan Houser
Sep 27, 20153 min read


Modern Life: Dog and Cat Version
In the last 30 to 40 years there have been great changes in how most owned dogs and cats live their lives in the United States. Those...

Susan Houser
Sep 23, 20155 min read


Bird Conservationists – What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Bird conservationists are perhaps the most effective opponents of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs for feral cats. The conservationists...

Susan Houser
Sep 17, 20158 min read


News Roundup 9-13-15
On September 8th, San Antonio’s Animal Care Services (ACS) announced that it had met the No Kill standard of a 90% live release rate...

Susan Houser
Sep 13, 20156 min read


The Historical Role of Spay-Neuter in No Kill
Back in the 1970s it was not common for people to have their dogs and cats sterilized, and it was common for people to allow their dogs...

Susan Houser
Sep 2, 20156 min read


News of the Week 8-30-15
We hear a lot about police officers shooting family pets with little or no provocation. In a recent case in Round Rock, Texas, a police...

Susan Houser
Aug 30, 20153 min read


“Invasive” Feral Cats Aren’t So Bad After All
These days, almost everyone involved with trying to increase live release rates for cats supports Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) and...

Susan Houser
Aug 25, 20153 min read


Houston’s Problem
According to a 2005 mayor’s task force report for the city of Houston and Harris County, animal shelters in the area killed 80,000...

Susan Houser
Aug 23, 20157 min read


News of the Week 08-16-15
The Humane Alliance of Western North Carolina, located in Asheville, has provided low-cost spay-neuter in the area since 1994, and...

Susan Houser
Aug 16, 20155 min read


Humane Network Initiatives
Readers — I’m sure most if not all of you know about the great work that is being done by Humane Network, which is headed by the No Kill...

Susan Houser
Aug 12, 20151 min read


News of the Week 08-09-15
The Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV) has removed its draft statement on No-Kill terminology, which was in a comment period....

Susan Houser
Aug 9, 20153 min read


Capacity for Care
The reaction to my August 2nd blog post about the Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV) draft position statement on “The Use of...

Susan Houser
Aug 5, 20155 min read


The ASV’s Draft Position Paper on No Kill Terminology
The Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV) has a series of position statements that it has promulgated on various issues such as TNR,...

Susan Houser
Aug 2, 20155 min read
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