by Leslie Conner

Created on: January 23, 2009   Last Updated: February 06, 2009

I have volunteered for various animal shelters over the past two years. From personal experience, I can tell you there are some good ones and there are some bad ones. And, sadly, the latter is more common. But, it's hard to imagine what society would be like without the service. Homeless dogs and cats would be roaming the streets and many more would be lying on the side of the road after being hit by a car.

I see animals every day being brought into the shelter by animal control officers or owners who can no longer care for them. I know that there are definitely more entering than leaving. And, it makes me realize that as well-intentioned as shelters are, it is impossible to be ideal. For animals to be treated humanely (in the most basic sense of the word) in a shelter environment, many things would have to improve.

Most county animal shelters are overwhelmed with the population that they have to keep. Facilities that were built to hold a certain capacity almost always have three times that amount. I walk by cages that have three or four dogs in them, when they are only meant for one. Sometimes it is the same with cats. And, as most of us know, cats do not adapt very well to being confined with a stranger. It's not uncommon to hear vicious fights taking place among cell mates.

Shelter life is stressful on an animal, even in the best situations, but overcrowded conditions exacerbate the problem. Most animals can acclimate remarkably well, under the circumstances, but there are some that tend to regress behaviorally much faster. Stress, for prolonged periods of time, can take quite a toll. Many animals will get sick, or exhibit anti-social behavior, and ultimately, become aggressive. It is much harder to find adoptive homes for the animals that have reached this point. So, when they can no longer live peacefully in the shelter community, they must be euthanized. It is a sad but undeniable fact. Nearly half the animals that walk in the door don't walk back out.

There are shelters that are labeled "no kill" and take pride in the fact that they never euthanize an animal unless there is an untreatable health issue. What is often not known about these organizations is that they have exclusive admittance rules. They only receive animals that have been through the system and who are deemed adoptable. Strays or animals with even slight behavioral issues cannot be accepted. So, the majority of less-than-perfect animals has to be taken to the county facilities that are forced

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