07/04/2025
There has been pressure put onto our local shelters via social media to euthanize more pets. Our pet overpopulation problem in the U.S. has been steadily growing for years. The solution being pushed: euthanize more pets. I understand the frustration of not having somewhere to turn for stray dogs, but here enlies the problem when you only consider the incoming pets. Euthanizing pets will open up space for more pets to be held in the shelter. What happens, though, is that instead of getting more adoptions, this leads to shelters becoming revolving doors of euthanasia. And who is carrying the burden of those gut-wrenching decisions like which dogs are euthanized and when? The people.
The people who work these unforgiving jobs of helping homeless pets or the volunteers who do it purely out of the goodness of their heart. We already have higher rates of compassion fatigue and su***de within the rescue community than in other occupations. If shelters became revolving doors for euthanasia what pet lover is going to be able to withstand that? And when all of the workers or volunteers have left, who intakes dogs then? I guarantee it isn't the critics calling for more pets to be killed. And how many strays will we have running around then, when shelters can't find anyone to man the buildings?
Our local shelters are not built to house and care for the number of homeless pets that show up at their doors. Shelters were set up to help when families experience divorce, illness, death, financial struggles, etc. They are not meant for the owners who bought a border collie but don't want to exercise it. Shelters aren't for families who bought a puppy and never socialized it, and it bit someone. Shelters are not for people who didn't get their dogs neutered and now have an unwanted litter of puppies. Shelters are not for when people got a new puppy and no longer want the old dog.
We as a society are overusing shelters and rescues for problems that we ourselves have created. That is not their intended purpose. Shelters and rescues will never be able to clean up the mess that is irresponsible breeding and pet ownership. If we do not fix that problem, shelters will never have a chance. If there were some consequences to this irresponsible breeding and pet ownership it may decline, but as a society we have to realize that pushing the decision of if a dog needs to be behaviorally euthanized off to the shelters is leaving the irresponsible parties walk away scot-free.
And for anyone criticizing from the sidelines... you can always jump into the action. Anyone can start a pet rescue, and you can euthanize all the dogs you want. You can become that revolving door of pet euthanasia and see how long you last. See how long you stay afloat financially and see how long your mental health stays intact. And if you are the poster child for "stop donating to the shelters," you better have your doors open to strays if they ever go under.
I try to keep this page as positive as possible, but I have to defend our community when such damaging seeds are being planted. Any pet professional who is trying to cultivate a deep distrust of our groomers, trainers, and shelters can not truly care about the pets in this community. We may not all agree on everything all of the time, but we all acknowledge that there is a need for good pet care options and strive to provide that. We have a great community here, and it will take much more than some irrational and meaningless rants to threaten it.
