In the article, “Danville’s animal shelter euthanized fewer animals in 2025 than the year before, taking steps to save more lives,” Grace Mamon underscores Danville Area Humane Society’s decreased euthanasia rates, which should rightfully be applauded. At Best Friends Animal Society we believe any increase in animal lifesaving is something to be celebrated, however, there was one passage in the article that gave me reason to pause: “Contributing to high intake, the Danville shelter also operates on an open-intake model, which means that it doesn’t turn away any animal regardless of space or resource constraints. It’s not uncommon for healthy animals to be euthanized at open-admission shelters because of these constraints.”
This represents an antiquated and unnecessary way of looking at shelters. For proof, you needn’t look far from Danville. The Lynchburg Humane Society, which operates as the shelter for the city of Lynchburg much in the same way that DAHS does, took in 2,763 animals last year, caring for 3,254 in total, and euthanizing just 129. This means that they were able to save 93% of cats and dogs that entered their shelter. In comparison, Danville Area Humane Society’s recently released 2025 numbers show it only saved 36% of them.
So how does Lynchburg’s shelter, and countless other shelters, save so many lives? They have evolved to embrace modern sheltering practices. Open admission relies on the concept of accepting every cat or dog into housing immediately, regardless of their origin, or whether the shelter has adequate resources to care for them. If the shelter runs out of space, the pets are killed. But Danville’s shelter doesn’t need to rely on housing as its only program.
Lynchburg and shelters like it provide programs that support people keeping their pets or assisting in a solution that is best for the pet — usually keeping them out of the shelter where they have a greater chance of losing their lives. Programs like food pantries, low-cost vet care and supported rehoming are examples of modern sheltering practices that have proven to be extremely effective.
Programs implemented when a cat or dog enters the shelter matter just as much, because they allow pets to find new homes quickly and preserve capacity (barrier free adoptions, a robust and engaged foster program are just two of these types of programming).
An engaged community knows that when they are looking for a new pet, the shelter should be the first stop for finding them. Creative, innovative programs — such as Lynchburg’s Petcation Program, which invites community members to take adoptable dogs on day trips or overnight slumber parties, and monthly cat yoga events that encourage people to relax and connect with adoptable cats — welcome the public in and make them part of the solution.
These changes may seem like easy things to help more homeless pets, but they go a long way in saving more lives. Lynchburg sees their community as partners in saving lives, and the community has responded. Success like this does not happen overnight, but the programs that make this happen are proven to work. To see it, we only need to turn our heads.
Ultimately, the shift from Danville Humane Society’s current model to Lynchburg Humane’s success is a shift in community trust. When a shelter starts operating as a true community resource that partners with its citizens, the constraints that once led to euthanasia begin to evaporate. Saving lives requires trusting that the public wants to help and expanding programs to allow them to do so. If we invite the community to be part of the solution, we know they will show up.
David Wesolowski is manager of grassroots advocacy for the Best Friends Animal Society.