Saving animal lives
Costa Rica has drawn international attention for its novel approach to animal control: The country eschews euthanasia and has virtually no animal shelters, relying instead on low-cost, community-based sterilization programs and foster care for strays.
The McKee Project, founded in 1998 by an American-born animal advocate and the president of Costa Rica's Veterinary Licensing Board, serves as an umbrella organization for a number of "no-kill, no-shelter" sterilization programs throughout the country. With support from the Ministry of Health, the national veterinary association (Colegio de Médicos Veterinarios) and local communities, the project provides U.S.-built anesthesia machines on loan to Costa Rican veterinary clinics, making sterilization both faster and safer. In exchange, the clinics provide low-cost spaying and neutering for an agreed number of animals each year. Currently 78 veterinarians participate in the program. Its sponsors are hoping to increase the number of machines available (currently 10) and have already expanded the program into Guatemala, Mexico and Panama.
Supporters of the no-kill, no-shelter approach point out that traditional shelters rely heavily on euthanasia, which has proven to be an inefficient way of preventing animal overpopulation. Mass killing of strays simply reduces competition for food and increases the fecundity of stray animals that survive. Moreover, permanent shelters are expensive to build and maintain, eating up scarce resources that would be better spent on vaccination, sterilization and educating people about responsible pet ownership.
"You can never build enough shelter space to contain every dog and cat without a home, as long as dogs and cats breed freely," says Yayo Vicente, former president of the veterinary association and now executive director of the McKee Project. "The United States spends $2 billion a year on animal sheltering, yet half of its rural counties still have no shelter. We promote a community-based approach, encouraging sterilization and recruiting foster families to care for pets until they can find a permanent home."