To my way of thinking, the difference between most no-kill and kill shelters is that the no-kills control their population at the front door, and the kills control it at the back door.
At our local shelter, we don't have a set time policy. We DO euthanize any pit bull that isn't reclaimed by its owner; this is an ordinance by the 3 towns controlling the shelter that they can't afford the liability insurance if they had a different policy. Animals that are terminally sick or fatally injured are put to sleep immediately. However, I HAVE seen them do very serious vet work, such as surgery on a cat with a fractured pelvis. If a cat has serious socialization problems, positive FeLV tests, such things as that, they will be put to sleep after being kept the required 3 business days (which usually means they're a the shelter for a week). Any that can be adopted will be put out front for adoption; once they're out front, they may stay for a long time. Our Ella, for example, had been in cages almost continually since Hurricane Katrina.
At our local shelter, we don't have a set time policy. We DO euthanize any pit bull that isn't reclaimed by its owner; this is an ordinance by the 3 towns controlling the shelter that they can't afford the liability insurance if they had a different policy. Animals that are terminally sick or fatally injured are put to sleep immediately. However, I HAVE seen them do very serious vet work, such as surgery on a cat with a fractured pelvis. If a cat has serious socialization problems, positive FeLV tests, such things as that, they will be put to sleep after being kept the required 3 business days (which usually means they're a the shelter for a week). Any that can be adopted will be put out front for adoption; once they're out front, they may stay for a long time. Our Ella, for example, had been in cages almost continually since Hurricane Katrina.