An animal shelter, called the pound, is where lost, stray, surrendered, or abandoned animals (mostly cats and dogs) are housed.
The word “pound” originated from the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where lost or stray livestock would be impounded or penned until they were claimed.
Some shelters do not kill animals no matter what happens (a no-kill shelter), while some form a policy to euthanize animals that are not claimed on time by a new or previous owner.
In a survey conducted in 30 countries in Europe, all countries but five (Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Germany, and Greece) permitted the killing of healthy lost/stray dogs.
Terminologies
Some terminologies used in this field of work may differ from the word’s normal meaning. Some of these include:
Animal Control
Animal control is responsible for picking up stray cats & dogs and also investigating reports of dog bites, animal abuse, or animal attacks.
It is also known as animal care and control and was once known as rabies control and dog catcher.
Lost, abandoned, or stray pets picked up off the street or abandoned places are usually transported to the local pound or animal shelter.
After some time, if its owner does not claim the animal, the animal will be put up for adoption.
Animals involved in bites or attacks are placed in isolation/quarantine and unavailable for adoption until legal cases or investigations are resolved. Animal control’s main interest is rabies control and public safety.
Owner Surrender
Owner surrender is A policy allowing individuals to bring animals to the shelter. It is also called relinquishing an animal.
Open Admission Shelter
An open-admission shelter is a shelter that would accept any animal regardless of the reason. It is usually a private shelter (with a contract to operate for a municipality) or a municipal-run shelter.
Limited Admission Shelters
These non-profit or private shelters limit their intake to only healthy & highly adoptable animals and are without municipal contracts.
Managed Admission Shelters
These shelters may fix appointments and restrict the number of animals taken in due to their limited available resources.
Euthanasia
Euthanasia can be said to be the act of giving animals an easy death. A low-kill shelter euthanizes very few animals and usually creates programs to increase the number of animals that will be released (alive).
In contrast, a high-kill shelter euthanizes many of its impounded animals. A shelter’s living rate is determined by comparing the number of animals that leave the shelter alive against the number of animals that have been taken.
Due to its strict policy, a no-kill shelter maintains a very high release rate, such as 90%, 95%, or sometimes 100%.
Since there is no exact measurement standard, some shelters usually compare the live releases to the number of healthy animals available for adoption.
In contrast, other shelters compare live releases to the number of animals taken in. With all things said, terms like low, high, and no-kill are subjective.
Shelter Partners
Shelter partners include fosters, rescue groups, and sanctuaries. Rescue groups help reduce the number of animals at a shelter by occasionally adopting dogs.
However, rescue groups may pull hard to adopt animals with behavioral or health issues or be interested in a specific dog breed.
Many rescue groups do not have B&M (brick and mortar) locations but operate with foster partners or out of a home.
A foster takes animals from the shelter to their home to give them special care and attention for a short period.
Such animals could include an animal recovering from an illness or a newly whelped litter of puppies. A sanctuary for animals is said to be a place for difficult-to-adopt animals.
It is a place where animals with aggression and behavioral issues are handled. It is also a place for aged animals to receive care until their natural death.
A foster is a temporary placement, while a sanctuary is a permanent placement.