As a no-kill, non-profit facility we are overwhelmed with requests to take in animals. When someone has to give up their pet, the majority of them want to surrender the pet to a no-kill shelter. But by definition, our shelter, like all no-kill shelters, receives these requests on a daily basis and cannot possibly take them all, nor do we have the staff to respond to the large volume of requests we receive.
The majority of the animals we take in are from kill shelters where the animal is running out of time before its killed to make room for another animal and from rescue groups that have rescued dogs and cats from harsh outside living conditions on chains or running loose. We try to help as many of those animals as we can who are in immediate life-threatening situations and not in a home.
There are many reasons that people want to give up their pets such as the owner moving, behavioral/obedience training issues and house-training issues. The majority of time, many of these problems can be worked out with time, patience and commitment to the animal from the owner.
When wanting that the cute puppy or kitten, think through what the lifetime commitment means. If you are in a situation where it is absolutely impossible to keep your pet, know that you won’t always be able to find a no-kill shelter that has room when you need it and as a result, you may have to take your pet to a kill shelter. It’s a very hard decision. But it is your decision to make as the one who initially took on that commitment. There are some other suggestions you can try before taking your pet to a kill shelter, such as finding a new home for your pet on your own. Those suggestions are listed below:
We can recommend the following websites to read more on shelters and rescue groups in your area. They are:
Additional suggestions are:
If you need assistance to spay or neuter your animal, please call Spay Today at 304-728-8330 for information on reduced-cost spay/neuter services.
