Last year, Tompkins County SPCA did not put down a single animal for lack of space, despite taking in three times as many animals each month as there were available cages in their shelter. The number of animals killed has dropped to an all-time low of its 100 years of operation, and for a second year in a row Tompkins County has been called "the safest community in the United States for a homeless dog or cat."

How did they do it? "We had a three-point plan," says executive director Nathan Winograd:

"One: Stop the killing.
Two: Stop the killing.
Three: Stop the killing."