KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City animal shelters are dealing with an overcrowding crisis.

It's a problem impacting shelters across the nation, and it begs the question: How did we get ourselves into this mess?

To understand how we got here, let's go back to the 2010s, when a new wave of the "no-kill" movement began.

Dr. Melia Washington, chief veterinarian at Pet Resource Center of Kansas City, said it was around 2015 when big organizations started pushing for shelters to stop euthanizing animals at such alarming rates. It seemed like a good idea, right?

But let's take a closer look.

'No-kill' movement begins

The term "no kill" is somewhat misleading. To qualify as a no-kill shelter, you must have a 90% live-release rate. That means shelters can still euthanize 10% of the animals they

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