why do shelters put animals that are perfectly fine to sleep??

Question

Okay I want to know why do shelters put animals that are perfectly fine to sleep??

And if nobody wants the animal for adoption they should atleast give the animal to a bigger orginazation so they dont have to put the animal to sleep RIGHT.

Please give me some facts and some quotations of people saying why they put animals to sleep.

Thanks

Answer 1

Well once I felt the same way because I'm an animal lover, but I found out that animal shelters have to let go of perfectly fine animals because they just don't have enough money or room for that certain animal and have done all they can for it. If they do send them to a bigger organization then they most likely will also run out of resources. That is why I always encourage people to treat animals right and spay and neuter them for their own safety . Adoption is also appreciated.

Answer 2

The reason is simple: because space and money is not infinite, and neither are people interested in adopting a pet.

If people would wise up and stop or limit breeding, and if people who shouldn't breed simply didn't, and take the responsibility to spay/neuter to avoid unplanned litters, the problem would be much less severe.

You can’t really blame the shelters for what they do. If there’s no space, they can’t just snap their fingers and get more. The only way to make way for new dogs is to "get rid" of the old ones. It’s horrible, but there aren’t many other options. A lot of people probably think they don’t care, but why would anyone work at an animal shelter in the first place if they didn’t feel something for the animals there? I think it’s so easy to believe they are these cold people who kill dogs and cats without a second thought, but they are animal lovers just like you and me. It must break their hearts to do this to those poor animals just as it would break ours, but they can’t just make space and money appear out of nowhere.

The animal shelter in my city was recently demolished, and a new no-kill shelter was built. I went to check it out to see how it had improved from the old one, and wow! There are big outdoor cages for the summer (which are each connected to an air-conditioned indoor cage if the dogs choose they’d rather be there) and really nice indoor cages for the winter, as well as a big exercise yard. I say "cage," but each one is like a little room with lots of floor space and high ceilings, and all of the dogs get toys and blankets. If the dogs are social, they are placed with another dog of the same size for company. The cats have a huge room to play in with all kinds of great toys and things to climb on too. And best of all, no animal is put to sleep (unless of course there is a problem, such as aggression, that will keep them from making a safe pet). It’s a shame more cities don't take the initiative to make more shelters like these.

Answer 3

OK I will give you an answer. I worked at the Humane Society of Missouri and I saw first hand how many animals can be turned in in just 24 hours. Hundreds of Strays are picked up and turned in on a daily basis. Then you have individuals that turn in their pets because they no longer want to take care of them or they are unable to keep them for some reason. Every Humane Society in the United States is overpopulated. Even the Rescue Organizations do not have enough Foster Families to take the ever increasing number of cats and dogs that are turned in. Animals can only be kept for so long in a facility and then unfortunately they must be Euthanized. I assure you that the people that work at these facilities go out of their way to find good homes for as many animals as possible. In a perfect world all Shelters would be "No Kill" Facilities. If people would Neuter and Spay their pets then the number of unwanted pups and kittens would drastically decrease. The irresponsible owners are the ones to blame for the huge number of Euthanasias that occur across the United States every day. Eliminating Euthanasia of healthy dogs and cats begins with responsible pet owners.

Answer 4

It's an issue of space. When I worked at the animal hospital in my town, pets that came into the pound had 5 business days to be claimed by their owner, and 5 business days to be adopted out. If they were still there after that time, they were euthanized. I had to quit working there after I brought home two cats and a dog that I just couldn't say no to. Now another business has the city impound license, and they only euthanize if it's necessary (feral cats, terminal illness, animals unable to rehabilitate). If they can't adopt out a dog or cat, the animals are sent to a shelter about 4 hours away that boasts a turnover rate of 2.5 days.

Sorry, but I don't have any quotations of people saying why they euthanize their pets.

Answer 5

There are different reasons. Sometimes a shelter will get an aggressive dog and they legally cannot adopt it out. They don't have much choice in such a case. Other times, they simply don't have the space and I can tell you it's something shelter workers hate to have to do. Imagine how hard it is for people who love animals to have to put an animal to sleep simply because they haven't been able to find it a home.

Answer 6

um, well i don't have any quotations or whatnot from people who put them to sleep but i myself work at the Animal Shelter in Wichita Falls Texas. we recently went through an extremely bad outbreak of distemper and parvo and had to put several animals to sleep. as far as 'perfectly fine' animals, i have no knowledge of any such animals being put down. animals that are aggressive and possibly harmful are put down also. a little after i first started working at the shelter there was a cocker spaniel that was very aggressive and in poor condition. his ears were practically matted shut and it was a horrible sight but we did not put him down right a way. in fact, we kept him for several weeks, had him groomed, gave him plenty of attention and did all we could to help him. he did get better. his ears was better and he didn't growl and snarl at the sight of someone. he would seem as if he was begging to be pet, just like the other dogs but when you put your hand down or something he would snap at you. we did absolutely everything we could but after a month or so we had to come to the very hard decision to put him down. even if someone did decided to adopt him and work with him and he be the only dog, all that would soon change the second the dog bit a friend or a child or grandchild. we couldn't risk such a huge liability. other than that dog and perhaps a few others in the same situation i have yet to see a healthy animal put to sleep. we've had this one particular dog since she was a little puppy and when she was an adult everyone was so excited to see her go to a good home. she was in good health so we kept her and in return it paid off. i helped put down a darling puppy, one i had become very attached to but it was the best thing to do b/c she had distemper. if you were to read up on the deadly disease you would understand. several other animals met the same fate and some cats as well but obviously from a different disease. we do medicate the sick animals and do what we can to get them healthy but after a certain point there is only so much one can do. believe it or not everyone working out there is very much affected by the euphemization of an animal. i myself cried so much. there are shelter organization that do not care as much as we do. actually, we took over this shelter from people who weren't doing a very good job AT ALL and completely turned it around. if a shelter is doing what you descirbed then maybe you could do something about it. report it to someone, the board, anyone even the local news might be able to do something.
well i hope this helped in someway.
i agree that perfectly fine animals don't need to be put to sleep and at our shelter i can guarantee they are not.

Answer 7

There isn't enough space,food,money for utilities to keep them warm in the winter and cool in the summer (as alot of shelters try to do)
Caged animals don't get enough exercise.
Animals for the most part are social by nature and it is cruel to keep them caged up for extended periods of time as it would be required if they are kept in shelters.
Our society is OVER RUN with animals. . .dogs/cats because people refuse to have them neutered or spayed and then when they have puppies they don't want or can't give away or sell then they take them out to the country and dump them off and all the while,these animals who have come to know their food comes from humans are now left to find their own food.
These animals left to fend for themselves often times will invade peoples properties to kill their animals for food. . . animals such as chickens,ducks,goats,sheep and sometimes even cows and horses. . depending on how desperate they are.
Some animals have never been around streets and most do not know how to cross them safely so they end up getting hit and lay on the side of the road or any other place they can get to and die a slow and painful death.
If an animal that gets hit by a car is lucky they will only have a broken bone or two that will heal on it's own and probably crooked or completely distorted and now they have to try and find food with limited motility which now makes them a target for coyotes or any other animal that is hungry enough to try and take them down.
There are tons of animals out there that are perfectly good for adoption but there just aren't enough people to adopt all of the "abandoned" animals and every day that population of animals gets larger with every birth of a new litter.
There aren't enough organizations that can accommodate the large numbers of homeless animals and those organizations that do take on homeless animals even have a criteria as to which animals they can take on because of the large number of homeless animals that grow every day.
Putting "unwanted" animals to sleep is the very best thing that can happen to them verses letting them roam free.
To be put to sleep is a painless eternal sleep verses a painful,neglectful,suffering death due to starvation or having been run over.

Answer 8

If they keep all the animals that are not being adopted they can have issues with disease. Recently, Las Vegas animal control had not been putting down animals when they were supposed to, trying to do the right thing. They ended up vaccinating the animals with the wrong things and had to kill over 1,000 cats and dogs because they all got sick.

It also costs a lot of money to keep them all. Vet visits, vaccinations, and food. Not to mention space concerns and time to train and walk all of the animals.

Answer 9

I beggan bawling at "No, Daddy..." It replaced into quite written by between the those that began a internet site called PowerPets which educates people of animal rights. very valuable tale! The lack of expertise of persons who think of of their pets as something yet a kinfolk member with equivalent rights is discusting. i'm talking with regard to the those that rehome an animal that has been replaced by a human toddler, or because of the fact their new domicile isn't a place for it, or that their new child is severly allergic. I frequently get suspicious that those are the three overly-undemanding motives for giving one up, and that i think of that maximum situations people say this to a guard in order that as that they have got a competent adequate excuse, whilst quite, they do exactly no longer care and are too lazy to tutor it to circulate to the bathing room in the the perfect option spot or despite. however the those that quite make those judgements with out questioning of their puppy are in basic terms as undesirable. i'm no longer asserting to choose a canines over your new child, yet there are information on the thank you to help any and evrey problem that would airse. It in basic terms takes paintings and time, that's why a lot of people take an elementary way out.

Answer 10

They do that because they do not have the time or money to take care of them any longer. They think - well, we will probably just get more animals so why not just get rid of these - I'm guessing but thats what it seems like. They probably don't care.