What is The HSUS's role in relation to local animal shelters?
By long-standing tradition, local humane societies remain independent entities, each with its own policies, governance, and priorities. In the 1950s, the founders of The HSUS recognized that animal welfare professionals at these societies were consumed with the day-to-day tasks of community animal care and control. No organization gave a national voice and coast-to-coast muscle in the fight against cruelty and the celebration of the human-animal bond. The founding mission of The HSUS was to support the work of local societies by speaking with just such a voice.
Learn more about the many programs and services we provide to local animal shelters 
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If The HSUS does not oversee my local animal shelter, what does it do?
For more than a half-century, The HSUS has stood as the nation's most important advocate for local humane societies. Across the country and around the world, we serve local animal shelters and other groups by offering a wealth of publications, training opportunities (such as our annual Animal Care Expo, a trade show and workshop conference specifically designed for animal care and control professionals), and advice and assistance from our team of expert staff. We also publish recommended guidelines for shelter operations, shelter management, and animal control and cruelty.
Learn more about the many programs and services we provide to local animal shelters
Additionally, The HSUS and its partner, The Fund for Animals, provide sanctuary and direct care to thousands of creatures, big and small through the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Texas, two Wildlife Centers—one in southern California and one in Cape Cod, Massachusets, and a Rabbit Sanctuary in South Carolina.
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How many animals enter animal shelters each year? And how many are euthanized?
The HSUS estimates that animal shelters care for 6-8 million dogs and cats every year in the United States, of whom approximately 3-4 million are euthanized. At this time, there is no central data reporting agency for animal shelters, so these numbers are estimates; however, the Asilomar Accords method is gaining momentum as a standard for more accurately tracking these numbers. Soon, annual statistics for approximately 150 shelters across the country will be posted at asilomaraccords.org. You can help us develop a more accurate picture of the problem by encouraging your local shelter to report its data.
In the 1970s, American shelters euthanized 12-20 million dogs and cats, at a time when there were 67 million pets in homes. Today, shelters euthanize around 4 million animals, while there are more than 135 million dogs and cats in homes. This enormous decline in euthanasia numbers—from around 25 percent of American dogs and cats euthanized every year to about 3 percent—represents substantial progress. We will make still greater progress by working together to strike at the roots of animal overpopulation.
View pet overpopulation statistics
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Why are there so many animals in animal shelters?
According to the latest data from the American Pet Products Association, 63 percent of American households have pets. Sadly, only 10 percent of owned dogs and 18 percent of owned cats were adopted from animal shelters. The HSUS strongly recommends that those who want to add a pet to their household consider adopting from a shelter or rescue—you could save a life!
But it's not just low adoption rates driving the high number of animals in shelters. Every year, millions of dogs and cats are relinquished by their owners—or rescued from the streets by animal control officers and private citizens—and brought to animal shelters. These circumstances leave shelters and rescue groups with a large number of animals in need of homes. Often, more arrive each day.
To help reduce the number of homeless animals, The HSUS works to promote responsible pet ownership and to reduce pet overpopulation through public education, legislation, and support for sterilization programs. We also help animal shelters directly by providing information and training on topics such as innovative marketing techniques, fundraising, and volunteer programs. We encourage shelters and animal control agencies to network with foster families, rescue groups, and others in the community in order to save lives. Learn more about what The HSUS does for local shelters and rescues. Our website, Animalsheltering.org, is the go-to site for professionals and volunteers involved with local animal shelters, rescues, spay/neuter services, and animal control agencies.
Learn more about the crisis of pet overpopulation
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How long are animals held at an animal shelter before being adopted or euthanized? What factors affect those decisions?
Most animal shelters have no set time limit for holding an animal. In the vast majority of shelters, decisions about adoption and euthanasia are based on factors that include the temperament and health of the animal, and the space and resources available to humanely house and properly care for the animal.
Some animal shelters take in strays, though, and many of those facilities have an established holding period for those animals to allow their owners a chance to find and claim them. This stray holding period is typically set by local or state law, so it will vary from one community to the next. While some variation is understandable, The HSUS recommends that shelters hold stray animals for a minimum of five operating days; that period should include a Saturday to ensure that working owners will have every possible chance to claim their lost pets.
Animal shelters should strive to ensure that their animals remain healthy and are given every opportunity to find new homes. If an animal becomes sick, stressed, or exhibits challenging behavior, the shelter should take steps to treat these conditions, working with available veterinary and behavioral assistance, and using responsible foster homes to get the animal into a less stressful environment. However, if efforts to treat the illness or behavioral problem fail and the animal is not showing signs of recovery, some shelters may not have the resources to continue treatment and may not have access to a reputable rescue group or foster home. If the animal is aggressive and demonstrates the likelihood of causing harm to people or other animals, the shelter may rightly deem it irresponsible to place that animal back into the community. In some of these cases, euthanasia may be warranted.
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Why aren't all animal shelters no-kill shelters?
Some shelters are mandated to accept all animals brought to them, and The HSUS believes there must be at least one animal shelter in every community that operates under this philosophy. Ending the euthanasia of homeless animals is a goal that all animal welfare organizations share, but the reality is that shelters, with their limited space and finite resources, cannot achieve this goal without high levels of community support. For more information about our position, please read our President's statement.
The HSUS focuses on the root of the homeless animal problem by educating pet owners, helping them deal with behavior problems and other issues so that they can keep their pets for life. We encourage spaying and neutering to reduce animal overpopulation, promote adoption from shelters and rescues, and seek to end the mass breeding of dogs in puppy mills and their sale in pet stores and on the internet.
The HSUS supports all of our nation's animal shelters in their efforts to save lives through good matchmaking and proactive adoption programs and to eliminate the euthanasia of homeless animals. It is the responsibility of every shelter, regardless of its euthanasia position and operating philosophy, to maintain the highest standards of animal care and to ensure that all adopted animals are spayed and neutered.
You can make a difference! Support community-wide efforts to prevent overpopulation. Encourage your local shelter to work as diligently as possible to find loving homes for the animals in their care. You could even volunteer! Adopt your next companion animal from a shelter, have all your pets spayed or neutered, and be a responsible pet owner—protect your pets with current identification tags and don't let them roam.
Learn more about the crisis of pet overpopulation
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I am concerned that my local animal shelter is in poor condition or that animals are being neglected. What can I do?
If you have questions or concerns about the operations at your local animal shelter, always discuss them with the shelter management first, before jumping to conclusions. Caring for animals in a shelter setting is different from caring for animals in a home environment and managing large numbers of animals requires many special considerations that may not be obvious. The HSUS recommends that all animal shelters provide at least the minimum quality of life standards for the animals in their care.
Because they are independent agencies, animal shelters operate with varying levels of funding and resources. Undesirable shelter conditions are more often a result of economic constraints and lack of training rather than absence of compassion. For this reason, we encourage communities to support their local animal shelters so they are able to provide the best care possible for the animals they assist. It is important to keep in mind that even though a poorly constructed or run-down facility can pose significant challenges in providing the best care to the animals, a brand new facility doesn't necessarily guarantee that good care is being given. A shelter's physical structure does not and should not dictate the quality of daily operations.
We urge you to talk with your local officials about the need to provide funding and support to animal care and control services comparable to what is given to other functions, such as law enforcement and public works. You may want to consider obtaining a copy of "Animal Control Management: A Guide for Local Governments." This report, which was written by The HSUS, serves as a guidebook for running an effective community animal care and control program.
Learn more about what you can do if you have concerns about your local animal shelter
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How do I notify the correct authorities about animal abuse or neglect that I have witnessed?
If you witness animal abuse or neglect, please contact your local humane society, animal shelter, or animal control agency immediately. In most areas, those agencies have the jurisdiction and capability to investigate and resolve these situations. They rely on concerned citizens to be their eyes and ears in the community and to report animal suffering. If you are not sure where to call or if there is no animal welfare agency of that sort in your community, call your local police department or sheriff's office.
Learn more about animal abuse and neglect
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I need to give up my pet, what do I do?
Many pet-related problems can be frustrating, and you may feel that relinquishing your pet is the only solution. But before you take that drastic step, be aware of the wealth of resources available to help pet owners such as yourself deal with problems that can seem overwhelming.
If your reason for giving up your pet is behavior problems, visit humanesociety.org/petsforlife to view our behavior tip sheets, which may help your resolve those problems. If you are having trouble finding rental housing that accepts pets, check out our information on finding animal-friendly rental-housing.
If you cannot keep your pet, check out Guidelines for Finding a Responsible Home for a Pet, which includes information designed to help you responsibly re-home your animal into a safe environment.
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My animal shelter won't accept the animal I brought to them. What do I do?
First and foremost, it's extremely important to try to keep the animal in your custody until you can find a responsible place to take them. Try to locate other animal shelters in your area by visiting www.pets911.com or looking in the phone directory under "animal shelters," "animal control," or "animal care and control." If those methods don't work, try contacting a veterinarian in your area. They may have a better idea of what resources are available to you.
The HSUS feels strongly that there needs to be an animal shelter in each community whose doors are open to all homeless and unwanted animals. However, animal shelters, as independent agencies, are under no obligation to follow these recommendations.
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There isn't an animal shelter in my community, what do I do? Can I start my own shelter?
Traditionally, animal care and control services are a function of the local government, and for the sake of public health and safety and the quality of life in a community, it is imperative that all governments provide these services.
Creating a private shelter can be an extremely challenging endeavor requiring ample resources, so if there isn't an animal care and control agency that covers your area, we urge you to speak to your local officials about the need for adequate animal control services. The report "Animal Control Management: A Guide for Local Governments" may be helpful to you and your local government in deciding how your community's animal control agency should be set up and operated.
Starting and maintaining a responsible shelter requires a great deal of expertise, labor and resources. There may be more effective ways you can help. Local animal organizations and citizens can help animals through many different methods. While some concentrate on sheltering and adoptions, others focus on services like lobbying for effective animal protection laws and services, educating the public about responsible pet ownership, establishing subsidized spay and neuter services, helping feral cats in their community, setting up pet-behavior hotlines or classes to help more people keep their animals instead of relinquishing or abandoning them, or bringing humane education into area classrooms. The HSUS encourages you to investigate your community's animal problems to determine how your resources may best be employed.
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How do I adopt a pet?
We urge you (and everyone!) to adopt your pet from an animal shelter, rather than purchasing a pet from a pet store or breeder. Shelters offer an all-shapes-and-sizes potpourri of potential new best friends. You will find puppies and kittens at shelters as well as mature animals. In addition, The HSUS estimates that approximately 25% of shelter animals are purebred. Every animal shelter has its own policies and procedures for adoptions, so you will need to contact the animal shelters in your area to learn how they operate.
Find out more about adopting a pet
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How do animal shelters decide what animals to make available for adoption?
The purpose of an animal shelter's adoption program, whether a private animal protection organization or a municipal animal care and control agency, should be to find responsible, lifelong homes for animals who are suitable family companions. Making such matches requires careful attention to the needs of both the animals and their prospective adopters. Only healthy animals who are not known to have exhibited potentially dangerous or aggressive tendencies or other serious behavioral disorders should be made available for adoption.
It is important to remember that animal shelters operate with different levels of funding, and every shelter may not have the resources to treat sick or injured animals. Of course, in these cases, every option is explored when deciding whether it is possible to provide treatment, but shelters must consider that expending a large amount of funds on one animal means lessening the funds available for all of the other animals under their care.
In order to select adoption candidates and to attain successful adoptions, every dog or cat should receive a thorough medical exam and behavioral assessment to give staff and volunteers a better understanding of that individual animal's health, needs, behaviors, fears and personality.
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Why does my local animal shelter require that all adopted animals be spayed or neutered?
Because of the needless breeding of dogs and cats, coupled with irresponsible pet ownership, animal shelters continue to receive countless unwanted companion animals every year. Between six and eight million dogs and cats enter animal shelters every year in the United States, but according to the best estimates available, only about half of these animals are adopted. Shelters who spay and neuter animals prior to adoption do so to ensure that they are not contributing to the very overpopulation problem that they struggle against each day.
Get a shelter's prospective on why all animals should be spayed or neutered
Find out the myths and facts about spaying and neutering
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Why do animal shelters charge an adoption fee?
Because animal shelters must be able to cover the costs involved in caring for the animals they house, they charge fees for adoption services. These costs can include feeding, grooming, vaccinations, medications and, in some cases, spaying or neutering. Many shelters depend on donations to cover these costs as they are not profit-making organizations.
Although adoption fees are needed to run shelters, they also serve another purpose. The decision to acquire a pet should be made very carefully. Individuals need to be ready and willing to pay for necessary costs of owning an animal, such as inoculations, veterinary care, licensing, food, and more. If a modest adoption fee causes the prospective pet owner concern, then he or she very well may not be prepared to make the financial commitment required of responsible pet owners.
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I was denied a pet adoption. What can I do?
It is important to remember that adoptions staff are tasked with the great responsibility of protecting the futures of the animals in their care. Adoption policies are in place to protect animals and to ensure the right matches are made between people and animals.
We recommend that you contact the shelter adoptions representative to ask on what basis your application was denied. This may clear up any possible misunderstandings that may have taken place during the adoption process. Once you are informed why your application was denied, if you feel it was unfair we recommend that you contact shelter management to discuss your concerns.
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I recently adopted an animal from my local animal shelter that I later found out was sick. Why did the shelter allow a sick animal to be adopted?
The HSUS believes that animal shelters should open their doors to any animal in need. When shelters do provide haven to all animals, they accept animals of varying health levels, many of whom arrive with no medical history. Some of these animals may not exhibit symptoms during their stay at the shelter and may only show signs of illness once they have been placed into an adoptive home.
Also, in any large-scale kennel situation, whether it be a boarding kennel, a breeder, a retail pet store, or an animal shelter, any number of transmittable ailments can be passed among animals confined to a common living area. Due to funding constraints, many shelters are unable to test incoming animals for certain diseases.
The HSUS encourages communities to support their local animal shelters so they are able to provide the best care possible for the animals they assist. If you have concerns about an animal you've adopted that is sick, be sure to consult your veterinarian and discuss the situation with the shelter management.
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Updated Feb. 4, 2009.
