Establish a No-Kill Florida: Sign the 90% Save Rate Petition

The Executive Office of the Governor of Florida

1. What is the 90% Save Rate Standard?

  • The 90% benchmark defines a “no-kill” community as one where every healthy and treatable companion animal that enters a shelter leaves alive through adoption, fostering, return-to-owner, or rescue transfer initiatives.


  • The benchmark recognizes that up to 10% of animals entering shelters suffer from severe, irreversible medical trauma or irremediable aggressive behaviors where euthanasia is the only humane outcome.
  • The current metric, live-release rate, does not count owner-surrendered dogs as part of the total population. In shelters such as OCAS, if owners want to surrender their pet to the shelter, they must give permission for the pet to be euthanized.


2. What will the Proclamation do?

  • Establishes a statewide vision, unifying municipal facilities, rescues, and communities alike under a shared commitment to save pets' lives.


  • Encourages synergy between public and private facilities, enabling local communities to establish voluntary foster care networks, adoption events, low-cost spay/neuter programs, etc


  • Empowers grassroots rescues and shelters to collaborate and reduce intake


3. What the Proclamation does NOT do

  • It does not force county commissions or cities to increase budget allocations or spend additional tax dollars


  • It does not take away local control and allows county commissions, municipal authorities, and shelter staff to retain operational autonomy over their policies, staffing, admissions, and community priorities


  • It does not force shelters to release dangerous animals into neighborhoods or permit long-term warehousing of animals with severe, untreatable conditions


4. Why Your Signature Matters!

  • Collecting verified signatures from Florida voters provides undeniable proof to state leadership that humane, common-sense shelter standards are a priority for residents across the state.


Sign the petition to urge the Governor to issue the statewide No-Kill Proclamation!


For more details, visit KeepPetsAlive.org or contact us at info@KeepPetsAlive.org


Petition by
Gravatar
Keep Pets Alive
Windermere, Florida

To: The Executive Office of the Governor of Florida
From: [Your Name]

To the Executive Office of the Governor of Florida,

We, the undersigned registered voters of Florida, urge you to issue an executive proclamation recognizing Florida's commitment to achieving a statewide 90% shelter save rate for companion animals.
Florida's local shelters and rescues have made incredible progress, reaching an 85% statewide save rate, but we must strive higher. By establishing an executive vision that supports community partnerships, preserves local operational authority, and protects taxpayers' dollars without creating unfunded mandates, Florida can lead the nation in shelter animal survival.

I am writing to express my profound support for the immediate passage of a State of Florida No-Kill Proclamation, and firmly stand behind the principles outlined in the clauses below:
WHEREAS, the State of Florida is consistently dedicated to the safety, health, and
compassionate care of all its residents, including the companion animals that share our homes
and communities, by maintaining robust anti-cruelty frameworks under Title XLVI, Chapter 828
of the Florida Statutes; and

WHEREAS, Florida enforces some of the toughest felony penalties for animal abuse in the
country, explicitly mandates humane shelter standards, protects family pets within domestic
violence injunctions, and secures companion animals during state-mandated emergency
evacuations; and

WHEREAS, a benchmark of a "No-Kill" community is widely recognized by achieving a 90%
save rate or higher for animals entering the shelter system, a meaningful standard that reflects the
successful implementation of progressive, data-driven lifesaving programs and community
support; and

WHEREAS, official animal welfare proclamations signify a community’s explicit desire to save
more lives, serving not as a final destination, but as a vital catalyst for localized advocacy,
necessary ordinance modernization, and the mobilization of increased resources to structurally
lower euthanasia rates; and

WHEREAS, true statewide progress relies on empowering grassroots movements, non-profit
rescue operations, municipal shelters, and dedicated local action teams, providing them with the
collaborative frameworks and community-led support needed to maximize lifesaving capacity;
And

WHEREAS, a bottom-up movement has already taken hold across the Sunshine State, with 13
trailblazing Florida counties, including Sumter, Manatee, Alachua, Broward, Clay, Hillsborough,
and Miami-Dade, independently declaring intentions to meet or exceed the no-kill threshold of a
90% shelter animal save rate; and

WHEREAS, sustainable, long-term lifesaving outcomes require the localized implementation of
community-focused best practices, including high-volume spay/neuter initiatives, robust foster
networks, and strategic public-private partnerships to eliminate the use of euthanasia as a method
of population control; and

WHEREAS, a unified executive vision will solidify Florida's stance on animal welfare,
celebrating and accelerating the incredible work done on the ground by volunteers, rescue
networks, and municipal partners to preserve the lives of healthy and treatable companion
animals

I respectfully request that you formalize this commitment and issue the State of Florida No-Kill Proclamation.