Chandler Gore
Writing 121
Sean Crouch
6 December 2013

Euthanasia in Animal Shelters

Animal shelters were non-existent until the late 1800’s but now every year in the United States six to eight million dogs and cats enter animal shelters and three to four million of them are euthanized. Of all the animals that enter animal shelters, only 15.8 percent of dogs and two percent of cats get reunited with their owner. Unnecessary deaths of animals occur because their population is growing rapidly due to breeders and illegal puppy mills. Also, the public doesn’t understand the importance of sterilizing their pets by spaying or neutering them. Most animal shelters have become more humane about the way they euthanize the animals at their shelter, but there are still hundreds of shelters that use inhumane ways to euthanize animals such as electrocution and decompression. Buying an animal from a shelter instead of from a breeder will decrease the population of the animals, which will result in less animals getting euthanized. Some people might argue that animal shelters are a staple for our economy because they can keep the rates of animals under control. Animal shelters do house hundreds of animals at once, and only keep the ones that they think are best fit for adoption and euthanize sick and injured animals. Without animal shelters, there would be a lot of unnecessary pain and illness of animals on the street. Shelters are a place where people can bring their pet if it is ill and cannot become healthy to get euthanized for a reasonable price. Shelters are also the place where people can bring their pets that they can no longer keep in hopes that they will get a nice family to adopt them. “Shelters do place at least twenty five percent of animals that come in into new homes, and find the owners of at least fifteen percent of the animals” (Animal Humane Association). I believe with a little education to the public, animal shelters will no longer need to put down excessive amounts of animals. Even though there are numerous animal shelters in each county throughout the United States, there are still not enough of them to house all of the animals that are getting brought to them. The main reason that animal shelters are getting over populated is because the public doesn’t believe that any animals in the shelter can be a purebred or that all animals in the shelter misbehave and that’s why they are in there. People also assume that most of the animals that are in the shelter have been brought in from off the street or their owners dropped them off because of their behavior, when in reality “the main reason that animals get brought in is due to the owners moving and not being able to take their pet with them” (Petfinder). The next biggest reason for animals getting brought to a shelter is because the owner doesn’t have enough time or money to keep the pet happy and comfortable. One of the main excuses for people who don’t adopt from a shelter is that they can find a free one online or in the newspaper, when in reality it will cost more to get them sterilized and to get vaccinated that it would be to adopt one from a shelter. Most families that are considering adopting an animal want a puppy and a purebred animal, and they think it will be impossible to find one at a shelter. While it can be hard to find one on your first visit to a shelter, it is important to remember that shelters handle six to eight million animals each year. Some shelters even make it easy for people who are looking to adopt a certain breed of dog or a certain age, and they create waiting lists and they are even willing to call you when an animal comes in that matches what you want, but most people can’t be that patient and end up adopting from a breeder or from a puppy mill. It’s important to be patient when adopting a pet because being patient can reduce the number of animals getting euthanized every year. The lack of education the public has on animal shelters is frightening. Most individuals don’t understand the importance of sterilizing their pets and let their animals roam around while they are in heat and they end up getting pregnant and the puppies or kittens end up getting sold and given away to other uneducated people. If the publics education on the importance of sterilizing their pets, the number of animals will decrease tremendously. “In the 1970’s there were 62 million pets and 12 to 20 million got euthanized each year and now that the public is a little more educated there are 150 million pets and only six to eight million are getting euthanized” (Seltzer). The Humane Society of the United States is hoping that within the next couple of years or so the euthanasia rate will drop to as low was three million animals a year. That still seems like a lot, but the United States has come a long way from 12-20 million euthanasia’s a year. The ways animals are euthanized in a shelter is a highly controversial topic and has caused a ton of arguments between shelter management and animal rights advocates. Even though most of the modern shelters inject animals with sodium-pentobarbital, there are still many shelters in the United States that use electrocution, gas chambers, and decompression to kill the animals. Injection of sodium-pentobarbital is the most common way to euthanize animals because it “is painless, quick, and dignified” (PETA). The most inhumane way that shelters still use to euthanize the animals is through electrocution where they will place a metal clip on the animal’s lip and use a metal rectal electrocution probe. Although, electrocution is rarely used anymore there are reports of it being used in some states in few shelters. The next inhumane way that they can euthanize an animal is through the use of a decompression chamber that will spin the animal to the point where it will no longer be able to breath and become unconscious and eventually die. There are certain guidelines that the shelter has to follow when euthanizing animals, but that doesn’t always mean that they do. The American Veterinary Medical Association sets up these guidelines for the shelters to follow in hope that inhumane ways of euthanasia will no longer exist. Even though it is nearly impossible for the AVMA to monitor every euthanasia that happens in every shelter in the United States. It is important that the people of the United States know what is happening to their pet when they drop them off at a local animal shelter, because most “shelters give the animal only 72 hours to get adopted before they euthanize it” (AVMA). If the public can get more educated on animal sterilization, the number of animals getting euthanized will drop dramatically. If the number of animals getting euthanized drops the number of inhumane euthanasia’s will drop because the shelters will more likely be able to afford the medicine to inject in the animals and they will be able to be put down peacefully. Also if people start buying from shelters instead of from breeders and puppy mills, the number will also decrease.