I mentioned in another post that my road is a popular place to dump unwanted animas. At one point the animal shelter gave me free catfood so I wouldn't bring all of them in. whole litters of cats & dogs have been dumped on my door stip!

If people would just spay or neuter their animals it would help a lot. Some people just don't care. Don't blame the shelters.....blame the people who just don't take care of the situation. I hate the thought of animals being "put to sleep" but it's better than starving or being hit by a car. Such a sad situation for the animals.

What can they do? They are doing the best they can with the resources they have available. They keep the animals as long as they can but they have to make room for more because people just keep on bringing them...people who get pets and don't think of the long term or can't keep them anymore for whatever reason or can't afford them. People don't spay and neuter. Animals have become such a throwaway in our society. Shelters are SO underfunded. If they posted signs on the doors of what would actually happen, what would people do then? Would they go dump their pets? What is the solution? Not all shelters can afford to be NK shelters. They simply don't have the capacity, especially if they are the only shelter in the entire city/county. We have FOUR rescue/shelter dogs. We never planned on four, but they all needed homes. I've been on my local shelter board. I volunteer. We donate to rescues every single month. We do as much as we possibly can to help out. If it bothers you get out there help make a change. Be a voice for the animals. You sound passionate about your feelings so I'm sure they would love your help. :)

That is why I went and bought the Chihuahua that my selfish MIL returned to the Humane Society here. She just knew someone would adopt her, I was sure if they did they would have taken her back. MIL didn't crate train her and she is full of energy. MIL let a lot of bad habits develop and when the newness wore off she took her back. They made lots of money off that dog.
We have a no kill shelter here. I prefer to buy my dogs from breeders and pick out the breed I want.
All my pets are spayed/neutered as soon as they are old enough. I have taken in 3 dogs and 6 cats over the years. Still have 1 large outside dog and 4 cats. I would like to donate to the no kill shelter, but, taking care of all the pets I have is tough enough.
Oldest Daughter has taken in 7. Son has taken in 8.
I feel we have done more than most people ever do.

I got Charlie from a no kill shelter but they don't accept just any animal. He is now neutered. The Humane Society shelter on E Lancaster in Fort Worth will accept your unwanted animals but they state on their website that they can't guarantee adoption. The HS shelter south of Fort Worth is a no kill but they screen which animals they take and require a donation. This weekend, Petco is having their national adoption weekend so I'm taking the puppy that someone dumped in the neighborhood. Hopefully, someone will want her.

There are no-kill shelters but they're usually full. When they adopt out an animal, they will usually go to a kill shelter and rescue an animal that only has maybe hours to go. One of the main problems is that people aren't responsible and get their pets spayed or neutered.

Today in the pouring rain someone dumped 2 half grown terrified kittens in my yard. They are now on my porch warm and well fed. They are so affectionate and look well cared for. I will watch the lost and found ads but bet no one claims them. I told my husband he could take them to the pound. He can't anymore than I can. Our small shelter is always begging for people to adopt pets. My husband said get em nuetered and declawed. I guess they are keepers. There should be a law that people spay and neuter!

If it were easier and more affordable to spay and neuter, maybe more people would take on that responsibly.

We have 3 cats, 2 males and a female. The males were both shelter kitties, and we took in the female so she wouldn't go that way. They were neutered at the shelter before adoption... but when I called about spaying her, they basically said please do that, but not here. So I called around to several vets in the area and they all charge so much... It's hard. I thought there were programs to help but haven't found anything. Since they're all indoor cats and the boys have been fixed, she's on hold for now.

I realize not everybody's like me. Some people just don't care. But I do, and am not able to really do anything about it right now.

New Hampshire is a no kill state. In fact when there was a large amount of chihuahuas in CA (Every time a movie star has a purse dog every one and their brother think they have to have one so the litters become uncontrolable) they sent our state a lot of them. Catherine Heigel and her mom footed a lot of the bill. Puerto Rico has a death beach. (Hopefully they have worked on that) I will let your minds go from there. Anyway the rescue there sends some of the dogs our way. In fact I have one. Didn't know at the time where she came from and didn't care. One thing I can't stress enough Please spay and neuter your animals! If you don't have enough money to do so the rescues here help to defray the costs. We call it ,"No Excuse Monday"I have a bumper sticker on my car that says,"Cats nap, only humans put them to sleep." Try the SPCA for cheap s/n, just about every state has one. There is no excuse for abandoned kittens and puppies. Now I will get off my soap box.

I have three cats, one we got as a kitten from our neighbor, who saw her "out of the nest" with no mama cat around. We've had Shelly since she was about three weeks old.

Our vet suggested that we consider getting a second, older cat to help socialize Shelly. So we went to a local SPCA and adopted Midnight. We told them we were looking for a positive role model for Shelly. Apparently they had never had anyone tell them that before! Anyway, Midnight was a stick-figure-drawing of a cat; she had been brought in with five black baby kittens, and she was literally starving to death in order to feed them. The kittens had gone into foster homes, and if they had not had an empty cage Midnight would have been put down.

Midnight took to Shelly right away as she was still "in kitten mode".

A year later I felt a need for another cat. (It happens, right?) And this time I went to a nearby no-kill shelter. I adopted Chat, a rather generic-looking gray tabby. Sadly, she had been waiting a year and a half to be adopted. She was treated well in the shelter, but... a year and a half in (mostly) a cage is not a good experience. Of our three, she is the least healthy; she gets frequent colds, has lost several teeth, gets yeast infections in her ears, and she's gone deaf (for no obvious reason). So... while I certainly hate the idea of euthanizing a perfectly lovable animal, spending years in a cage waiting for your forever home, well, that takes a toll too.

BTW the girls are all 8 or 9 now. Since then, we've taken in and kept or found homes for three strays.