Animal Shelter Director of the Year for 2007

Bonney Brown

Bonney Brown, the Executive Director of the Nevada Humane Society in Reno, has achieved success at the most important job a shelter has—saving lives.

The Nation's Best Director

Bonney Brown has been named the nation’s Animal Shelter Director of the Year for 2007. Under her leadership, the Nevada Humane Society reduced the Washoe County death rate for homeless dogs and cats by over 50%, and increased the adoption rate by over 50% for dogs and 80% for cats in one year, despite a combined intake (including animal control) of nearly 16,000 dogs and cats.*

“Bonney Brown is quite simply the nation’s best animal shelter director in 2007,” said Nathan J. Winograd, director of the No Kill Advocacy Center. “She has achieved success at the most important job a shelter has—saving lives.”

According to Winograd, “Overall, five million dogs and cats are killed annually in U.S. shelters. Most shelter directors are killing roughly 60-70 percent of all cats and half of all dogs. But Brown isn't like most directors. She embodies the spirit of No Kill which is always demanding and achieving improvement. And in 2007, she achieved more by saving the lives of thousands of dogs and cats who would have been killed in years past."

The county-wide save rate (including animal control) for dogs was 92% and the save rate for cats was 78%. That means that nine out of ten dogs and nearly eight out of ten cats are finding a new beginning in Washoe County shelters, instead of what they so typically find elsewhere--the end of the line. That makes Washoe County, NY one of the safest communities for homeless animals in the United States last year.

Animal Shelter Director of the Year Award Criteria
What does it take to be named the nation’s best by the only national organization dedicated to a No Kill nation and staffed by experts who have achieved No Kill success themselves? Nathan J. Winograd, the director of the No Kill Advocacy Center, explains:

The No Kill Advocacy Center’s award has one major criteria: success at the most important job a shelter has—saving lives. Since Directors who continue to kill the bulk of the animals can only be classified as “failing,” they are not eligible to receive recognition. We do not reward failure. And because Brown saved the vast majority of dogs and cats in such a short period of time, the simple fact is that she has virtually no equal nationwide. Congratulations Bonney. And thank you for proving what a shelter can accomplish when it dedicates itself to the No Kill endeavor.

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* Comparatively speaking, Washoe County has an intake rate of over three times the City of Los Angeles.

Learn more about NHS by clicking here.

Donate to their No Kill initiative by clicking here.

Ready for a challenge? Have a passion to save homeless animals? Bonney Brown wants you!

Featured position: Dog Care Manager. The Dog Care Manager will be responsible for the overall care and wellbeing of the dogs in the shelter, for ensuring that dogs are made ready for adoption in a timely manner, for the cleanliness of the shelter, and for the management of the animal care staff. The Dog Care Manager will also be responsible to actively support adoption efforts and to function as a member of the management team for the organization. Join the Nevada Humane Society. For NHS jobs, click here.

P.O. Box 74926 San Clemente CA 92673
www.nokilladvocacycenter.org