Why do dog pounds kill the animals that dont get adopted?

Question

Why dont they ship them to places that arent full?
I know North Carolina is scarce on dogs cause I went there and all the sogs and other animals were alot of money and none were free like othere states? So what about that?

And when I say free i mean like in the newspaper

Answer 1

It is for many reasons.

1. money-it costs a lot to take care of a dog no one wants.
taxpayers place little value on discarded pets. They are often the ones discarding them. The shelter is an easy way for most people to dispose of an animal.

2. real-estate most kennels and shelters can only accomodate a certain amount of animals. They simply do not have room to house every animal that comes in.

3. Some animals are simply not placeable. Illness, severe agression-a liability for everyone to adopt out an agressive animal. Better to give the space to animal that has a better chance to find a forever home.

4. Animals can often not be shipped for health reasons. State and other regulatory agencies are wise to prevent the shipping of animals that do not have a clean bill of health. Also sometimes shelters have outbreaks of Parvo or Kennel Cough. They do not want it to spread to other facilities.

I know this sounds harsh but I have never given up a pet and simply do not believe that so many people treat them like a disposable commodity.

Answer 2

A lot of shelters do this if they are short on room, this way they can receive more animals to help, I don't like this but a lot of shelters are underfunded and don't have the money to take care of them, In the shelter we have here it will put a dog down if its not adopted within 2 months of being there, They say it because of the space they have but every time i go up there they have open space. Also i See you might be a little confused people go to jail when the inhumanly abuse the animal. Which means they will beat or starve the dogs for days on end and sometimes people who deserve to go to jail for it wont do to lack of evidence, Any person can have there dog put down, Its the humane way, also if you read in the Constitution it tells you can humanly put your animal down with 1(one) bullet to the head, I actually watch a court case on this. Shelters have the right to put down animals if they cant find a foster care home for them or can afford to feed them it takes donations to keep them running. That's why if you feel so strongly about it find a No Kill shelter and offer your time, or a few dollars a month. I hope this answer your questions.

Answer 3

Actually, they really don't have an excuse anymore these days.

I worked rescue for 2 years and am trying to start my own orginization and when you do that, you find out interesting facts, like Pedigree, though a nasty dog food that I would never think of giving to my own dogs, makes huge donations to animal shelters nation wide, as do all other major brands, science diet, Purina, Iams, all of them. Also, people donate food, and alot of times, the shelters have more food than they know what to do with. Plus companys like Wal-Mart and K-mart and any other stores (Petco and Petsmart) will often give there broken bags of dog food to shelters and rescue groups. Why? Because the food is going to be thrown away anyways. They have already written it off, so what should they do, throw it away, or feed dogs that really need it. So it really doens't cost shelters that much to feed the dogs

Why not transport them to other states. It really doesn't cost anything to do that anymore either. I was trying to find the link, I use to have it in my favorites before IE7, but there was an orginization of truckers that I used a couple times, that they will take a few dogs in their trucks on their trips. Basically it is alot of truckers that use to own dogs and now would like the little extra company on the road. Besides that, if the shelters took all the money that they spend on the gas to put the dogs down and then to burn the remains, yes, bet alot didn't know they did that, they would be able to afford to ship the dogs. So the major reason, its the Law

Answer 4

Dont knock pounds, they do their hardest to try to rehome dogs. They also have a limited budget and when you run the risks of dogs just being shipped from place to place and not being rehomed, its not much of a life for the dog anyway, is it. And with more dogs going in than going out, it wouldnt be long before all pounds were full to capacity anyway.

Shelters and pounds shouldnt be considered the solution for unwanted dogs, they cant cope with everything, and until the general, ignorant public becomes truly aware of the dog overpopulation problem, and become responsible pet owners, there will be dogs put to sleep every day in shelters and pounds everywhere.

BTW my aunt just adopted a jack russel cross, sweetest little girl, about 2 years old and very well behaved, she has an ulcer in her left eye that has been untreated and caused blindness in that eye. This girl was just 1 day away from being euthanised, she was considered unadoptable due to having a hefty vet bill to come from a responsible owner, they didnt want to risk her new owner not getting the vetrinary help the dog needed, my aunt had to put a deposit on the vet visit and show them the receipt before she could take the dog. Admittedly it was a sympathy adoption, but it was a good one. Not every dog with a normally minor medical problem will get this lucky.

Answer 5

Unfortunately a lot of it comes down to money. There are a few no-kill policy shelters, but not too many. Most shelters are funded by public donations, and just don't have the money to be shipping dogs, and if the dog is there for a long period of time without being adopted they give up on them. Also there are some that only put down overly aggressive dogs with issues that the staff doesn't think will be able to be adopted, because they won't make a safe family pet.

Answer 6

I don't know of any shelters where the dogs are "free". Most shelters charge a nominal fee and include the cost of spay or neuter.
I live in Ohio.
The reason that unadopted dogs are killed is usually a matter of space and money. It cost to keep dogs alive, they need vet care, food and salaries for the workers. There are some no kill shelters in my state and some shelters actively seek volunteers to foster animals or sponsor cages.
Get involved with a shelter in your area. They are always happy to have the help.
I foster on a short term basis and have sponsored dogs in the shelter so they can stay past the average mandate.
If you want a "Free" pet remember you usually get what you pay for. You need to have the money to care for the pet regardless of the price.
You also need to know that a commitment to take care of an animal should last that animals entire life. I have had pets that have lived 15 years. Many people have had pets for longer than that.
Hope this answered you question.

Answer 7

I actually work for my county pound, so here's my take:

There are alot of different reasons we end up putting animals down. And, I know this will shock alot of you, they don't all come back to money. Some do. Not all. Here are three:

Ever hear the term 'unadoptable'? It generally means they are aggressive in one way or another, or have some personality problem that makes them a danger, or can't let go of what they'd been through before they came to us. Some of them can be reformed with love, we've had more than a few come through our pound. Some can't. These are animals we must put down. They're miserable with us, and we can't trust them in a home setting. It's likely they'll never be happy - no matter what we do.

There are some animals that progressively get worse in a kennel situation. This winter, we got this sweet little pit bull girl. But she had too much energy, not enough training. She went, for lack of a better term, kennel crazy. Animals like that, they aren't what people want. People only see their insane energy and how badly behaved they are. Not what we who work with them day to day see past that 'kennel craziness' - their love, wanting to please, generally sweet natures. What are we supposed to do? The longer their stay, the more unhappy they become. If a pound is lucky, they can find a foster-home rescue. Many are not. We weren't, not with the girl I mentioned above.

One more for you - the county. A pound is a county run facility, bought and paid for by the county. THEY decide how long an animal can stay, for us it's 7 days. 7. After that, if we haven't found a home, the owner, or put it to sleep - it's on our dime. They stop paying, and most pound operates don't have that kind of money. Fortunetly, ours does so they stay as long as we have kennel room.

Now that we're past the reasons why we have to make the dreaded vet trips -- let's move onto shipping. One pound has the same problems as the next. Money, space, rate of animals they get in, and adoptablity. Would you take something that costs you buckets of money to care for to sell to someone else when the person handing it off to you couldn't do it? Other pounds don't want the added problems of another facility - they have more than enough of their own. Fortunetly, there are rescues. Any pound operator worth their salt will attempt to find one for an animal they can pass off as a certain breed. (they're normaly breed specific places) But, same problems. Not enough foster homes, not enough staff, too many problems on their own for the moment.

Moving on - adoption fee. 1) So we know you can actually afford the animal. If you can't pay an adoption fee, sorry, you can't afford an animal. 2) Ask you county pound how much it costs to take care of the animal. In some cases, not so much. In others, it's staggaring. And we need it so we can continue to house and adopt out animals. 3) Free? Really? I highly doubt it. You're really distorting the situation.

Next thing on the list to address - solutions. WE, this is me speaking for pound attendants and operators everywhere, do not CAUSE THE PROBLEM. If everyone would stop dumping their pets in the middle of nowhere, if they'd keep on eye on their pets OR BETTER YET CALL when they lose their pet . . .this problem would be non-existant. Instead of slamming those who work at pounds - try slamming irresponsible owners.

That leads me to another talking point - slamming pound and their workers. This section is really only directed at one person, and not the asker. Heartless? Are you kidding me?!! It's damn near impossible to be heartless and work in a situation like that. If you don't break down at least once, either you're really detatched from your job or something's wrong with you. This job can tear you to shreds because you can't save them all.

In an end note -

Sorry if I come across as being a b*tch -- but this is a sore subject that I've had many agruments over.

Answer 8

The simple answer-there simply is not enough space. It is estimated that nearly 50% of animals in shelter get euthanized. A lot of times, in my experience, euthanasia happens when the shelter reaches full capacity, and then more dogs come in. So, let's say that a shelter can hold only 100 dogs, and it is currently full. If an animal control officer brings in 5 strays from the street, then 5 of the dogs that had been there the longest will be euthanized to make more space for the new ones. Additionally, it costs a lof of money to take care of dogs. A lot of the dogs that come in need medical attention (heart worm treatment, vaccinations, etc), and that gets really expensive.
Shelters charge adoption fees. It is normal for a private shelter to charge 100-200 in ALL states. County funded shelters (animal control) generally charges $35-75 for dogs, depending on the city/county.
There is not a scare population of dogs in North Carlolina, in fact, there are way too many. It is called Pet Overpopulation. You shelter charges a lot of money, because it needs to make enough money to continue to bring in animals and care for them (food, vet care, etc). In my area, it costs the shelter on average about $250-300 to care for each animal (food, shelter, vet). Their adoption fee is only $100. For the rest of the expenses, they count of private donations (if it is a private shelter) or county money (if it is run by the county or city).

BTW, dogs are usually only offered for free if it is about to be euthanized....some shelters NEVER make a dog free, but some do.
I hope this clears things up.

Answer 9

Cause... Puppymills work at an amazingly fast rate over producing puppies.. Petstores sell to anyone and anybody... LOTS of people shouldn't even own a dog or cat... Shelters get overwhelmed with all these pets, and the older or the not so cute, or the least likely to be adopted, must go somewhere.. If they just kept piling and stacking cages on top of one another and keeping them all alive, well... Let's just say that it would be horrible... Way too many unwanted litters every year.. Something has to be done.. If more people realized the impact that they were making on the over populated shelters maybe they would... Nah, greedy selfish.. they would never give it up...

Answer 10

Dogs are NOT free at pounds from other states. They do NOT euthanize dogs due to lack of money. They euthanize dogs due to overpopulation -- extreme overpopulation. Also, some are very sick, or very aggressive and can't be re-homed because of that. Many are sent to rescue groups where they can live in foster homes until they can be re-homed. I founded American Cocker Spaniel Rescue, and am currently fostering 5 dogs awaiting their new forever home.

Each day 10,000 humans are born in the U.S. - and each day 70,000 puppies and kittens are born. This means there are 7 puppies and kittens born for every human baby -- EVERY DAY! As long as these birth rates exist, there will never be enough homes for all the animals. As a result, every year 4 to 6 million animals are euthanized because there are no homes for them.

I just did a search for N.Carolina dogs in shelters listed on www.petfinder.com -- there are thousands available (that's a guess -- I didn't count them all, but there's hundreds and hundreds for sure!).