Overcrowding in animal shelters is a growing problem.
The economic crisis has not just affected people. People's animal companions have also felt the sting of their owner's unemployment, and they often find themselves in shelters when their humans can no longer care for them. Unfortunately, since many animal shelters lack government funding, they become overcrowded and unable to care for the animals to their normal standards. Some solutions to the problem are controversial, but the shelters' options are limited.
Community Involvement
Animal shelters require support from the people who live in the area. Many can only continue doing their work with donations from the community. However, most shelters do not just need money from concerned citizens. Animal shelters often post "wish lists" to tell the community what they need. Some common requests include fosters to provide homes for sick or young animals not ready for adoptions, food, blankets, towels, toys, grooming tools and paper towels.
Adoption
Animals in shelters are looking for caring, fit families with whom to spend their lives. Increased adoption is one of the few ways shelters can overcome the problem of overcrowding. One way to increase adoption is to monitor purebred breeders more carefully. Without proper monitoring, purebred animal farms can become part of the overcrowding problems in shelters because the police find the breeders are guilty of neglecting their kennels.
Spay and Neuter Programs
Animals that are not spayed or neutered are prone to wander and act on instincts that tell them to reproduce. Stray animal communities produce far more offspring than shelters could possibly handle, and owners who choose not to spay or neuter their animals only contribute to the problem. Some owners hope to sell their cats' and dogs' offspring, but there are more animals than owners who are financially secure enough to care for them.
Euthanasia
Euthanasia is a controversial method of limiting animal shelters' overcrowding problems. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) advocates painless and humane methods of ending shelter animals' lives, including sodium pentobarbital injections, as long as they are not combined with a neuromuscular blocking agent. HSUS does not think that carbon monoxide or weapons are acceptable methods of euthanasia, as they are extremely painful and unreliable. However, many animal enthusiasts believe that it is unethical for vets to euthanize perfectly healthy and adoptable pets simply to free up space and resources in the shelters.
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