Animal shelter

thumb|Outdoor kennel runs at a shelter

thumb|Indoor dog kennels at a shelter

thumb|A dog at an animal shelter

thumb|A cat at an animal shelter

An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would be penned or impounded until they were claimed by their owners.

While no-kill shelters exist, it is sometimes policy to euthanize animals that are not claimed quickly enough by a previous or new owner. In Europe, of the 30 countries included in a survey, all but six (Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy and Poland) permitted euthanizing non-adopted animals.

thumb|Animal shelter for found animals in [[Raahe, Finland]]

Terminology

The shelter industry has terminology for their unique field of work, and though there are no exact standards for consistent definitions, many words have meanings based on their usage. The latter will be a reason for euthanasia only if an authority concerned with public safety orders it based on an investigation. Because of the ruling, all German animal shelters are practically no-kill shelters. Facilities must be led by a person who is certified in the handling of animals. Most shelters contract veterinarians to provide medical care.

Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, approximately 42% of households own a pet, most commonly dogs and cats. Animal shelters in the country generally prioritise adoption over euthanasia or long-term housing. A study conducted between 2011 and 2015 across three Czech regions reported that 65% of cats entering shelters were adopted, while the remaining outcomes included unassisted death, euthanasia, or return to their original caretakers. Most cats admitted to shelters were under six months old and predominantly female, with intake rates peaking in summer and autumn.

India

Goshalas are a type of shelter for homeless, unwanted or elderly cattle in India. Cows are venerated by many Hindus and slaughter of cattle is illegal in most places in the country.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, dog pounds are run by each territorial local authority, which provide animal control services under the Dog Control Act 1996.

Poland

In Poland, it is allowed to euthanize animals in shelters only because of illness.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, animal shelters are more commonly known as rescue or rehoming centres and are run by charitable organizations. The most prominent rescue and rehoming organizations are the RSPCA, Cats Protection and the Dogs Trust.

United States

In the United States there is no government-run organization that provides oversight or regulation of the various shelters on a national basis. However, many individual states regulate shelters within their jurisdiction. One of the earliest comprehensive measures was the Georgia Animal Protection Act of 1986, a law enacted in response to the inhumane treatment of companion animals by a pet store chain in Atlanta. It provided for the licensing and regulation of pet shops, stables, kennels, and animal shelters, and it established, for the first time, minimum standards of care. The Georgia Department of Agriculture was tasked with licensing animal shelters and enforcing the new law through the Department's newly created Animal Protection Division. An additional provision, added in 1990, was the Humane Euthanasia Act, the first state law to mandate intravenous injection of sodium pentothal in place of gas chambers and other less humane methods. The law was further expanded and strengthened with the Animal Protection Act of 2000.

Currently, it is estimated that there are approximately 5,000 independently-run animal shelters operating nationwide. Shelters have redefined their role since the 1990s. No longer serving as a lifelong repository for strays and drop-offs, modern shelters have taken the lead in controlling the pet population, promoting pet adoption and studying shelter animals' health and behavior. To prevent animal euthanization, some shelters offer behavioral assessments of animals and training classes to make them more adoptable to the public. Most shelters also provide medical care that includes spaying and neutering to prevent overpopulation.

Shelters and shelter-like volunteer organizations responded to cat overpopulation with trap-neuter-return (TNR) programs, which reduced feral cat populations and reduced the burden on shelters.

In the United States, many government-run animal shelters operate in conditions that are far from ideal. During the 2008 financial crisis, many government shelters ran out of adequate space and financial resources. Shelters unable to raise additional funds to provide for the increased number of incoming animals have no choice but to euthanize them, sometimes within days. In 2012, approximately four million cats and dogs died in U.S. shelters. However, recent years have seen a dramatic drop in the number of animals euthanized in shelters, falling up to 75% in some large cities, due mainly to a successful push to promote spaying and neutering of pets.