Christie Lagally

After four years of operating the Richmond Animal Shelter as a no-kill shelter, the Richmond Animal Protection Society (RAPS) is holding a special event on New Year’s Eve.

On Friday, Dec. 31, from noon to 3 p.m., RAPS will have an open house and anniversary party to celebrate four years operating a municipal animal shelter under a no-kill policy of animal welfare and rescue, according to a news release from RAPS.

The public and Richmond city councillors are invited to join RAPS in marking their fourth birthday by attending the open house and seeing what no-kill sheltering has done for Richmond’s homeless animals.

Punch, cookies and other desserts will be served.

The public is invited to sign RAPS’ anniversary card by answering the question, “What does having a no-kill animal shelter mean to me?”

A volunteer will provide guided tours of the facility.

RAPS has operated for 21 years as a no-kill animal rescue organization, but in 2007 was awarded the contract by the City of Richmond to operate the city’s animal shelter and provide animal control services.

RAPS promised the community they would change the municipal shelter to a no-kill facility, only euthanizing animals that are too sick or injured to recover or who are deemed too dangerous and unstable to allow them to live a quality life.

Euthanasia is never used to deal with the massive animal overpopulation in Richmond including the abundance of homeless dogs, cats and rabbits.

RAPS has also implemented innovative policies such as a low-cost community spay/neuter program for dogs and cats, dog training classes for the public, special reactive dog-training programs for volunteer dog handlers and worked to stop the retail sale of rabbits and dogs in Richmond.

The society is a non-profit organization, operating two shelters in the City of Richmond, the Richmond Animal Shelter and the RAPS Cat Sanctuary

Year-end donations can be made to RAPS to support the no-kill sheltering policy in person or online at http://www.rapsociety.com or by calling the Richmond Animal Shelter at 604-275-2036.