HUMBLE, Texas – Humble Animal Shelter is being recognized for reaching a major lifesaving milestone after saving 94% of the dogs and cats that entered its care in 2025.
Best Friends Animal Society presented the shelter with a no-kill award Wednesday, Aug. 12, recognizing its efforts to meet the 90% save-rate benchmark commonly used to define no-kill shelters.
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The shelter’s achievement comes after expanding several programs designed to help more animals receive medical care, gain exposure to potential adopters and ultimately find homes.
Humble Animal Shelter partnered with a local spay and neuter clinic and used services through Best Friends Animal Society’s Pet Lifesaving Center in Houston to increase access to medical care for cats and dogs awaiting adoption.
The shelter also expanded its adoption opportunities, adding one Saturday each month to its limited weekday hours. It now participates in off-site adoption events one to two weekends each month to connect more animals with potential families.
Community support has also played a role. Friends of Humble Animal Shelter has helped pay for medical treatments that otherwise may not have been possible, helping prepare more animals for adoption.
The shelter also launched a Doggy Day Out program, allowing members of the community to take adoptable dogs out for the day. The program gives dogs more exposure while allowing potential adopters to see their personalities outside the shelter environment.
Best Friends Animal Society says 17 Houston-area shelters are being recognized this year for saving at least 90% of the dogs and cats in their care from January through December 2025.
The organization defines no-kill as a save rate of 90% or greater for animals entering a shelter. The benchmark is intended to measure lifesaving progress while recognizing that some animals may have medical or behavioral conditions that prevent them from being safely rehomed.
Best Friends says more than two-thirds of shelters nationwide have reached the 90% save-rate benchmark, moving communities closer to a future in which no healthy or treatable pet is unnecessarily euthanized simply because it does not have a home.