Prior to KC Pet Project assuming operation of this shelter, it was known as the city’s “dog pound” operated by Kansas City animal control employees. Euthanasia rates of 60% – 70% for the overall animal population and 98% euthanasia rates for cats were the norm. As recently as 2008, only 38% of those pets made it out alive. Our shelter is nearly 50 years old and was built as a “catch and kill” dog pound on an old landfill in a wooded area not easily seen by most passersby. Something had to be done, and when the newly formed Kansas City Pet Project was selected by city officials in the fall of 2011 to take over running the shelter, we knew we had to end the killing of healthy and treatable pets by using progressive ideas and best practice lifesaving programs. Within just a few months, KC Pet Project was formed as an entirely new nonprofit organization, took over sheltering operations on January 1, 2012 with almost no resources, including only a handful of donors, staff, and volunteers, and no established programs. What we DID have was a dedicated, hardworking and resourceful team of employees and board members and a motto of “Solutions, Not Excuses.”
KC Pet Project assumed operation of the shelter on January 1, 2012 and within just a few months we were saving more than 90% of all of the animals entering the shelter. We have consistently maintained a live release rate above 90% each month since that time and have improved our lifesaving efforts year after year.
KC Pet Project made history in Kansas City by officially achieving “No-Kill” status and creating the largest (and only open admission) animal shelter in the Kansas City metropolitan area. This was achieved within just 6 months of taking over operations of the Kansas City, Missouri municipal animal shelter! And we do it all on a small budget and in an old 14,000 square ft. building built in 1972 that was 1/4 the size it should be for our city’s homeless animals. In just 8 years, we went from operating just the animal control facility for Kansas City to now having 14 different successful adoption centers across the city caring for over 15,000 pets a year.
On April 4th, 2017, Kansas City, MO, residents had the opportunity to vote for funding for a new animal shelter. Kansas City, MO residents rallied to the polls and our vote passed by 67%. With the help of the private sector, along with tax-payer funds from the GO Bond initiative, Kansas City now has a shelter that it can be proud of!
We officially opened the doors of the KC Campus for Animal Care on January 1st, 2020 – our 8th Anniversary as an organization – and held the ribbon cutting ceremony on January 24th.
In May 2020, we launched our new Keep ‘Em Together, KC program aimed at helping families stay together. Through this program, we’ve advanced our Return to Home services, Rehoming Support programs, and kept people and their pets together.
On December 1st, 2020, KC Pet Project officially assumed the contract for all animal control services for Kansas City, MO, through our Animal Services Division.
On January 1, 2022, KC Pet Project celebrated our 10 Year Anniversary as an organization.
