Should dogs be euthanized just because they have been in a shelter for over a week? This statement should make you feel angry and disgusted. If dogs are a man’s best friend, then why are they being treated as disposable?!  Last year, over two million animals in shelters were euthanized. Five states were responsible for half of those.  Change is needed to eliminate this barbaric practice. In the United States, 56% of shelters are kill shelters. This means that whenever you are dropping off an animal at an unknown shelter, it is more likely that it is a kill shelter, and the possibility of the animal being euthanized increases (https://pawsomeadvice.com/pets/animal-shelter-statistics/  

The main reason for dogs to be euthanized is overcrowding in the shelters. This is where my solution comes into play. I want to establish an infrastructure where animals at the end of their stay in a kill shelter are transported to other states.  Volunteers in these states would receive these dogs and send them to foster families where they will be kept until they find an adoptive family and their permanent home. (Why Kill Shelters Exist - Voices of Change Animal League)

Molly, a husky puppy, was in a terrifying kill shelter in Mississippi. She was transported to New York and given to a loving family. Don’t you want more puppies and dogs to have a future like Molly’s? If the practices at these kill shelters were to be stopped, then many dogs could have their happily ever after like Molly did. 

An animal in a kill shelter could either be healthy or sick, young or old, or happy or sad.  The only thing that they have in common is that, for one reason or another, they are no longer wanted by their owner. Due to the fact that these shelters are constantly receiving more animals, the operators of many of the places feel that they have euthanized animals based on their duration of stay to make room for the newly abandoned animals.  We need to break this cycle and create a more humane method of finding homes for these innocent dogs, cats, and other pets.

Best Friends is an organization that’s motto is “Let’s make every shelter and every community no-kill by 2025”. They are a great resource to learn more about kill shelters and to donate to try and stop kill shelters before 2025. The contact information is below with the link to their website. Let’s help these dogs live the life they deserve. 

 Best Friends Animal Society

5001 Angel Canyon Road

Kanab, Utah 84741-5000

Phone: 435-644-2001

Alt Phone: 435-688-2327

Email: info@bestfriends.org

https://bestfriends.org/no-kill-2025