I have volunteered for a kill shelter for over 7 years and a big reason to put down animals is there are not enough homes for them and not enough money to care for them all. Choices have to be made and yes there have been times where I have helped to make those decisions.Originally Posted by nixer
My shelter is surrounded by several no-kill shelters and do you know what happens to the healthy animals that those no-kill shelters are turning away in favor of the unadoptable ones they keep for years? I have heard from volunteers at these other shelters of animals that have died of old age waiting 10years or more in these no-kill shelters for homes while young healthy animals are turned away. Most of those that are turned away are either dumped on the roadside by careless owners(many dieing or are bought into the kill shelter as strays), or are bought to the nearest kill shelter to add to the already high number of animals the kill shelter has to deal with. The majority of the animals still die the people at the no-kill shelters just don't have to deal with the burden, the burden is passed onto the shoulders of the employees and volunteers at a kill shelter. I have seen more than 30 cats come in in a single day before during kitten season and there just are not that many new homes everyday to adopt them.
If people still have a problem with kill shelters then help the rescues that pull animals from kill shelters and only euthenize for severe health issues such as feline HIV,and not for space, just pick a good rescue one that has reasonable adoption rates and not the ones that have the really high gouging rates. Some rescues are better than others as with all things. I work with a lovely rescue near me that helps as much as they can and cares about the animals first but even they are limited by the number of donations to how many animals they can help each year.
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