Animal Shelters: Understanding the Different Types
Animal shelters vary greatly in their practices and policies. Thankfully, many homeless and unwanted animals find refuge in open-admission animal shelters that are staffed by compassionate and professional individuals.
These facilities offer reassurance to frightened animals, and provide care or a peaceful end for sick and injured animals. Additionally, they ensure the animals’ living quarters are clean and dry. Such facilities do not turn away needy animals, and each animal’s unique emotional and physical needs are carefully considered.
Open-admission shelters commit to providing refuge for every animal in need, which unfortunately may require euthanizing unadopted and unadoptable animals. The alternative, refusing admission, is cruel and leaves the animals in dangerous conditions.
However, not all lost or abandoned animals find their way to these well-run shelters. Some end up in subpar facilities with little protection from the elements, where animals are often left to perish from exposure, disease, or conflict with other animals.
There are also “no-kill” or “turn-away” shelters that avoid euthanizing animals by refusing admission to those they deem unadoptable. These facilities often have waiting lists, which can compromise animal safety by leaving them in situations where they are unwanted. This raises the question: where do these rejected animals go? The fortunate ones find their way to responsible open-admission facilities that maintain ethical policies regarding euthanasia and adoption.
Regrettably, many animals rejected by turn-away facilities face grim outcomes. They may be abandoned on roadsides, left with local “hoarders,” or fall into the hands of people with cruel intentions. There are countless instances of such tragic outcomes which underline the severe problem this approach creates.
Moreover, animals that are admitted into no-kill shelters can find themselves in cages for extended periods, causing them to become withdrawn, depressed, or aggressive, thereby reducing their chances of adoption. There have been instances of inhumane conditions within some of these no-kill shelters.
For instance, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), a globally recognized animal rights group, uncovered evidence of physical and emotional suffering of animals due to chronic abuse and neglect in a North Carolina no-kill shelter.
Every shelter genuinely caring for animals should never turn away an animal in need, even if this means taking in animals who are diseased, badly injured, aggressive, or elderly. These animals may have slim chances of adoption, but a responsible shelter should at least provide them with a painless release from a world that has turned its back on them.
You can contribute to addressing the overpopulation crisis that leads to overcrowded animal shelters. Always ensure your animal companions are spayed or neutered, and avoid purchasing an animal from breeders or pet shops.
Additionally, it’s important to safeguard your companion animal from needless euthanasia during personal crises. Take the necessary steps now to ensure that your pet will be well cared for, even in the event of your divorce or passing.