Animal Shelters

An animal shelter is a facility that houses homeless, lost, or abandoned animals; primarily a large variety of dogs and cats. In the past, such a shelter was more commonly referred to as a dog pound, a term which had its origins in the impoundments of agricultural communities, where stray cattle would be penned up or impounded until claimed by their owners.

The ideal goal of the modern animal shelter is to provide a safe and caring environment until the animal is either reclaimed by its owner, placed in a new home, or placed with another organization for adoption. Many shelters temperament test animals before they are put up for adoption to determine if the animal is adoptable and, if so, what the appropriate home environment would be. However, in the United States, many government run animal shelters operate in conditions that are far from the ideal. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2007–2010 many government shelters have run out of adequate space and financial resources. Currently, 64% of all incoming animals left at a government run shelter are euthanized. Owners who choose to drop a pet off at one of these shelters are only giving that pet a 36% chance of survival. Shelters unable to raise additional funds to provide for the increased number of incoming animals have no choice but to euthanize them, sometimes within days. The statistics are less grim at no-kill shelters.

Some public animal shelters around the world also euthanize animals that are not adopted within a set period of time (usually 7 to 14 days); others, however, limit that policy to only putting down animals that are in distress due to age or illness. Most private shelters are typically run as no-kill shelters.