Animal shelters today are much different than traditional dog pounds.
Modern animal shelters and rescue centers are nothing like the images that come to mind when most people hear the words "dog pound." Shelters offer many needed services to both animals and the public and typically do so in a bright, stimulating environment.
Services
Today's animal shelters may offer adoptions, medical care, animal enrichment programs, community education, animal training and animal rescue services.
The Adopted
According to Animal Planet, 18 percent of currently owned dogs, and 16 percent of owned cats, were adopted from animal shelters.
Euthanasia
Unfortunately, some shelters must still euthanize a certain number of animals. Conditions are improving, however. The Humane Society of the United States reported in 2010 that only 3 percent of all American dogs and cats are euthanized, compared to 25 percent in the 1970s.
Misconceptions
There are animal benefit organizations known as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). These organizations are not necessarily affiliated with shelters using "Humane Society" or "SPCA" in their names. These are generic terms.
Population Control
The ASPCA states that only about 10 percent of the animals received at animal shelters are spayed or neutered. The lack of spaying and neutering contributes to the overpopulation problems that help make animal shelters necessary.
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