What You Should Know About Humane Societies and Animal Shelters

We all believe we can love and care for a pet unconditionally for the duration of its life. Often unconsidered factors in getting a pet are it's full size and life expectancy, family expansion, loss of personal freedom, schedules that keep us away for extended periods, and vet bills that can deal a staggering blow to finances. Unfortunately these situations are often rectified by removal of the animal.

Most conscientious people seek alternate homes or shelters for their unwanted pets. The side effect is many shelters particularly no kill shelters are often full and have to turn people away. Many pets are let loose, dropped off miles from home, or tied in the yard and neglected. Constant influx of these animals, lack of funds, and limited space make euthanasia necessary for nearly half of the 10,000,000 animals that find their way to shelters. Often members of the shelter staff working ardently to save the animals become their annihilators. The emotional toll on these providers is enormous and in some instances damaging beyond repair.

Hiss, Whine & Start Over by Jane Caryl Mahlow DVM is fiction but at its roots is the cruel reality of the human and humane crisis in shelters. Every year in the U.S. 4,000,000 cats and dogs are put down while 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 more are in shelters and an additional 72,265,000 are reported as pets. These numbers don't take into account the feral populations.

Cats roam alleys shunning human contact and previously domesticated dogs are beginning to form dangerously wild packs in our cities where reproduction continues unchecked. Few of these animals end up in shelters and fewer still can be rehabilitated enough to become pets. In an effort to slow feral expansion there is a capture, neuter/spay, and release program for cats. Spaying or neutering all pets is the first step in regaining control. Unwanted pet pregnancies are a major contributor to shelter and feral populations. Turning litters of unwanted kittens and puppies over to shelters reduces their ability to perform their official task of placing animals who are no longer able to be kept and housing the lost until they can be found or re-homed.

One solution being explored is breeder regulation where licenses for specific numbers of litters will be issued to qualifying facilities and fines will be levied against additional litters making them a financial burden. Requiring pet stores to purchase from licensed breeders while requiring those animals to be spayed or neutered before sale would also decrease numbers significantly. At a more public level reduced adoption fees for senior dogs and lower or fixed income families paired with veterinary care clinics aimed at making pets more affordable may not only help place animals but will make it less likely they are abandoned for financial reasons.

More immediately people need to be aware of what shelters and rescue programs have to offer. Every AKC acknowledged breed has it's own rescue group accessible through their website. These purebreds are up for adoption for various reasons, the fees are less than breeders but more than your local shelter. Petfinder has gone a long way to putting needy animals in the public eye. You can search the site by locality, type of animal, and breed while seeing each animal's specific needs, life story, and pictures. Again many of the posts require an adoption fee but it is a substantial savings compared to a breeder or pet store. Most local shelters have a wait list you can be placed on and you will be called when they have an animal match for your circumstances. This can take some time but in the end you will often end up with a full-grown, at least partially trained, endlessly grateful pet. And let's not forget the ever lovable, ever loyal mutt who is always looking for someone to take him home. They often display all the best qualities of their haphazard breeding.