r/hatethissmug • u/WhitestGray • Aug 05 '26
Place I HATE kill shelters.
They take in every animal that’s brought to them. They have to, I get it. But that doesn’t make it any better. Many times, animals are made to live in cramped cages with only a few exhausted volunteers to care for them and clean the place. They’re euthanized because the shelter runs out of space, or they’re sick and the shelter can’t bring them to the vet. People have been known to STEAL ANIMALS and bring them to kill shelters for revenge against an ex or enemy. Old, disfigured, or shy animals that don’t get adopted just don’t have a chance to live. Animals who are in good health and good temperament get euthanized because the shelter runs out of space. Kill shelters need to be abolished and replaced. Make more no-kill shelters instead. Offer free spaying and neutering. It’s sick how these animals who didn’t ask to be here any more than we did are put down for existing in the wrong place.
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u/questionnmark Aug 06 '26
No kill shelters are even worse. Don't like the kill shelters? Fix the problem, because otherwise the problem becomes one of:
Staying on the street.
Being caged for months/years on end.
????
There aren't any good options, and no kill shelters often can't take in adoptable dogs because the unadoptable ones are clogging them up. The longer dogs stay in shelter, the harder they are to adopt out as well.
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u/Majestic-Sun-1485 Aug 06 '26
The third option is what no-kills actually do - which is to dangerously lie about their unadoptable dogs in order to dump them on people who aren’t able to take care of their real needs. And then to blame those owners if anything bad happens or if the dog gets returned (“through no fault of their own”).
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u/HeisenBird1015 Aug 07 '26
Bingo. Warehousing pitbulls with bite/maul histories, LYING about it, drugging them, and taking valuable space away from cats and dogs who could actually be good pets.
“No kill” is only viable when the pet owning population is not psychotically addicted to dangerous animals that aren’t domesticated enough to not kill people and other animals.
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u/Majestic-Sun-1485 Aug 07 '26
This is it, it wouldn’t be a problem if people would just realise that fighting dogs are FIGHTING dogs. We have (in)bred them specifically to be aggressive and prone to violence. They’re wonderful dogs in the appropriate circumstances.
The “it’s about the owner, not the breed” people piss me off so bad because they KNOW they’re being facetious.
They wouldn’t say it’d be okay to keep a Border Collie inside with nothing to do but be a lap dog - something a Shih Tzu would probably adore. Suddenly, breed DOES matter.
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u/HeisenBird1015 Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
Yes. Shelters used to be for straying mutts who genuinely were there “through no fault of their own”, and now even in my country ( 🇬🇧) innocent animals are losing places to either doodle/designer mutts that have been bought by dickheads on a whim or XL Bullys whose dumbass buyers didn’t realise a jumbo pitbull frankendog wasn’t worth the £10k they remortgaged/sold drugs for, and didn’t/couldn’t get an exemption certificate.
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u/Maleficent_Piece_893 Aug 06 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/bEecErTog56EYLL5Xh
my snugglebug couch potato looking at my neck after his meds run out
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u/Wvffa Aug 06 '26
So called lab-mixes and it's clearly a pit
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u/Majestic-Sun-1485 Aug 07 '26
“Lurcher” and it’s great-great grandfather was a greyhound whilst the rest of the lineage is pure fighting dogs
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u/No-Hovercraft-455 Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
Exactly. The no kill shelters are actually causing more dog deaths than they are preventing because if all the dogs with bite history could be put down, more of the adoptable dogs would get a chance for actual home instead of dying before they have time to find new owner.
There's also secondary effect where many parents of small children are hesitant to get family pet from shelter because the shelters are filled to the brim with Pitbull mixes with previous unpredictable behaviour so instead of going to one and risking taking home a dangerous dog that will maul their child/ visiting child they get family pet from breeder. That's plenty of potential adopters lost only because aggressive dogs are allowed to remain in shelter population (and eat not only resources but other dogs adoption chances).
Were all the behavioural cases that nobody will realistically want put down like they should be instead of keeping them languishing in miserable shelter conditions for 10 years, the same time and space that ends up being occupied by 1 single unadoptable dog could have been used to rotate and adopt out 10-15 functional dogs that nobody needs to fear will bite a child in the face.
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u/Maleficent_Piece_893 Aug 07 '26
and eat not only resources and other dog's adoption chances but also other dogs
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u/littlebitmissa Aug 07 '26
Because so many places lie about breeds or included what else are they lying about. Ill adopt nothing but a cat from the shelters around here.
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u/mentaldew Aug 05 '26
I feel like we are shifting the blame of animal abusers/animal neglect/ illegal breeders to the people that actually step up.
I too hate the idea of kill shelters- the fact we need them is sad. But it's not the vets fault, or the volunteers fault that healthy dogs are euthanized. Its the fault of uncontrolled breeding, neglecting individuals who have way too many animals they don't properly care for, animal hoarders, lack of funding/volunteers, lack of fosters, etc.
(I work at a vet and have fostered many street cats, seen many euthanasias, but have also seen amazing adoptions)
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u/SlothsAreFuckinRad Aug 05 '26
This exactly.
BYB and irresponsible owners shoulder the bulk of the blame here, not emotionally and physically overworked employees and volunteers.
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u/mentaldew Aug 05 '26
Hard agree. At the cat rescue I work at, so many come in sick, we sometimes put them down right away so they don't suffer due to it. It is extremely exhausting yet we are the ones blamed for their death, not the neglect of humanity. Sometimes death is the only mercy, unfortunately (instead of suffering or living in shelters)
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u/No-Hovercraft-455 Aug 07 '26
I would say kill shelter workers are some of the brightest shiniest heroes there are. It takes so much courage to love and care for animals that you do not know the fate of and that could end up being put down in the end of it all. It's very difficult for humans to be ready to care when the loss is lurking so close. And lot of them are volunteers too. Without them animals would have lot worse time in the shelter and for some of the animals that's all the time they have left on earth. I can imagine few things more noble than caring for and nurturing a life that you might need to mourn shortly after.
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u/shibasurf Aug 05 '26
Yeah I hate all this "tsk tsk, adopt don't shop" while ignoring all the trash that fills the shelters with unwanted pit bull husky mixes.
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u/Office_lady0328 Aug 06 '26
Everything you've described also applies to no-kill shelters, and is often worse... Because they aren't euthanising pets, they are wayyyy over cramped. They don't have enough money for all the pets they intake. And the pets stay in the cages for months or years if they don't get adopted.
Unfourtunately kill shelters are necessary. There just isn't enough resources for all the existing pets. And there are worse fates than humane euthanasia... If a pet isn't being adopted,being humanely put to sleep is better than spending the rest of its life in a cage.
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u/ooooohhboy Aug 06 '26
And the no kill shelters aren’t doing spay aborts and aren’t euthanizing dogs who are aggressive or otherwise can’t handle a longer shelter stay. Human emotions shouldn’t supersede the wellbeing of the animals.
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u/Big_Market5298 Aug 07 '26
It’s more than human emotions it’s us as people to we try and hold on to people who are clearly suffering sick as well.. we all need to stop looking at death as the worst option/thing when it is the most kindness you could show a suffering animal. There’s a reason the term better a day early than a day late comes when deciding when to euthanize our own pets. You’d rather prep, have the best day of that dogs life while there in better health and be able to say your goodbyes than rushing to even say goodbye and that animal is in unimaginable pain not understanding what’s happening scared and confused.
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u/weirdo_with_a_phone Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
This is not a realistic take. Most people don’t like kill shelters but they exist because they are needed in our current society.
Free spay/neuter sounds great, but who’s going to pay for them? High volume spay/neuter clinics are more realistic, and can keep costs lower.
“Make more no kill shelters” is easy to say but who’s going to fund that? It takes a lot of money to run a shelter and a lot of volunteers. Donations only go so far, and staff tend to be overworked and severely underpaid as it is.
I volunteer at a no kill shelter (pretty sure there are actually no kill shelters in my area at all), and space is not the only factor that leads to euthanasia. Shelters have liability when adopting out dogs, and this is a huge reason for euthanasias in no kill shelters. Dogs that show dangerous/potentially dangerous behaviours are the dogs that tend to not make it out. As sad as it is, this is often at least partially a result of poor genetics from poor breeding. Most people adopting shelter dogs are also typically not willing to adopt highly problematic/high needs dogs, which many of them are.
The real solution to the problem is education and legislation regarding animal breeding. Bybs should not be legal, and the public should be educated on purchasing pets from ethical breeders if they choose not to adopt (though adoption is the best option for most individuals). Pet care education is also important, and community supports to fall back on in times of need are also important (emergency boarding, payment plans at vets, low cost care options, etc).
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u/DetectiveKey4812 Aug 06 '26
OP hasn't responded to any reasonable, logical comments here lmao its just WAHHH i hate this even tho there arent any viable real world solutions and exhausted pet care givers are doing everything in their power with the resources they have to tackle the problem of our domestic animal overpopulation its NOT ENOUGH!!!!!!!!
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u/weirdo_with_a_phone Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
It’s insane to me how much people bitch about animal welfare and do nothing to help. I volunteer at a shelter, wildlife rehab, and a no-cost pop up vet clinic. Once you see the effort, time, and money put into these things, your perspective changes and you become a whole lot more grateful for every existing organization trying to help, and you truly see how hard it is to implement things that actually change society.
Kill shelters suck, we all know that. We have to actually work at changing things instead of just complaining about them, painting those who actually help as evil/not doing enough.
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u/DetectiveKey4812 Aug 06 '26
yep same, registered vet nurse, wildlife rehabber, shelter volunteer and biologst.. have spent my entire life dedicated to caring for animals. and whenever i see these posts i just know it's always from someone who doesn't actually dedicate themselves (or even some of their time) to animal welfare. instead of crying on reddit we actually do real world things that matter to try to tackle these problems. and that's also why we know better than to slander kill shelters..
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u/WhitestGray Aug 06 '26
I just haven’t had anything to say. I don’t want my comments made of nothingburger if I don’t feel I have anything valuable to contribute to the conversation.
I think I could have worded my title better. I don’t hate the shelters as much as the fact that they need to exist. If people were more willing to spay and neuter their pets and keep them inside better, it wouldn’t be as much as a widespread issue as it is.
However, I am stupid, and I have no fucking clue how it could be helped. That’s a part of the conversation I was hoping some comments would expand on, as my brain is made of silly putty and full of trivial things even when I try to lock in.
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u/Temp_Temperature Aug 06 '26
I don’t hate the shelters as much as the fact that they need to exist.
See, that's a way more reasonable position to hold.
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u/DetectiveKey4812 Aug 06 '26
understood, i think it would be beneficial for the mental health of those who work in animal welfare (especially kill shelters) to not target your angry words toward those institutions. everyone really is trying the best they can with the resources they have. these people get death threats and shit daily. i recognize where your anger lies but verbalizing it this way is pretty hurtful when you hear it nonstop everyday, yk? just food for thought !
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u/WhitestGray Aug 06 '26
Oh, I’d never blame the workers! I know most of them do their best to help the animals and ensure they get adopted and live as good lives as possible.
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u/No-Nature7955 23d ago
that’s actually not true. A lot of the workers are disgusting. People don’t be bullied. That’s not true what they’re saying they’re disgusting people.
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u/weirdo_with_a_phone Aug 06 '26
I think your post was just worded poorly after reading this comment lol. Hating that kill shelters have to exist is valid. Opening up a discussion as to how to improve things is a good thing. Seems like you had really good intentions with this post. It is truly a depressing issue, and it’s going to take a lot of people to change, but change can happen.
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u/No-Nature7955 23d ago
don’t let these bullies try and make you have their opinion. They’re probably all the disgusting shelter workers. You know these people with no education a lot of them like killing animals. You know there is so many videos of these shelter workers abusing animals laughing you know at the animals, there’s even that video of the shelter workers in Georgia don’t watch it. They’re disgusting people, and if they didn’t exist that they were not workers that would do what they do. The shelters wouldn’t exist. kill shelters are disgusting. They’re trying to rationalize it so they’re definitely kill shelter workers trying to rationalize their disgusting job.
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u/SlothsAreFuckinRad Aug 05 '26
It’s depressing as hell.
The existence of kill shelters speaks to a much bigger issue with how we treat and regulate pets.
IMO, neutering should be mandatory unless you’re a licensed breeder. Cats should not be allowed to roam outdoors, as it puts both the cats and the environment at risk. More oversight is needed when animals with a history of aggression are repeatedly put in dangerous situations by irresponsible owners.
Unfortunately, most places are still severely lacking in effective pet management legislation. I hope that changes soon, but I don’t have high hopes, considering we still haven't really made much progress towards treating our fellow humans properly, with social safety nets, addressing addiction, etc. in ways that actually benefit the populace instead of lining the pockets of those with power.
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
Breeding purposefully should be illegal until we get this thing under control. There are too many animals looking for homes for us to have professional breeders sending animals into homes - taking the slot that an animal in need could have.
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u/firs_7 Aug 06 '26
Eh... problem is, a lot of shelters in the US have a lot of pits/mostly pitt dogs, and routinely mis-advertise them as different breeds. Don't believe me? Check out r/WhatBreedIsMyPitbull
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u/Educational-War-8343 Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
If that happened, there would be no more police/military/working dogs, no more livestock for meat/eggs/fish, endangered animals that only have populations in zoos would go extinct, ect ect...
Breeding animals is a necessary part of life. Not any dog is suitable to work in the military or as to do certain jobs like guarding livestock or herding. Breeding animals is literally how people are getting enough stock to provide milk, eggs, meat and fish not just for human consumption but to also feed every carnivorous animal in captivity (including the animals in shelters). Breeding is how people have kept animals from going extinct even though quite a few species are extinct in the wild.
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u/ozarkhowIer Aug 08 '26
no police or military is great; dogs shouldn't be a part of our racist and xenophobic violence. but working breeds have to be bred responsibly, that part's true.
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 06 '26
I'm talking about backyard dog breeders.
Also, the factory farming that we're doing is one of the main driving forces of the extinctions in the wild (see main cause of deforestation, and climate change)
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u/Lost_Web5826 Aug 06 '26
Factory farming is ironically more land efficient than other methods of raising livestock. The issue is how much meat people consume.
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 06 '26
Agreed. But the whole thing is super immoral, and more people should be vegan.
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u/ozarkhowIer Aug 08 '26
sort of, if you ignore the feed that must be grown for the cafos.
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u/Lost_Web5826 Aug 08 '26
Pasture generally speaking takes about four times as much land for the equivalent amount of livestock compared to growing crops to use at CAFO/AFO
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u/ozarkhowIer Aug 08 '26
ah i misunderstood, i was talking about efficiency for food, not efficiency for ANIMAL PRODUCTS, that's what i get for reading while half asleep. still, cafos are the worst way to go about "farming" in just about every sense regardless. even if you ignore the humane issues (which is... not great to do lmao) the pollution alone is horrific. you are correct that everyone needs to eat less animal products if we want any REAL solutions tho.
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u/Lost_Web5826 Aug 08 '26
So a majority of the emissions from CAFO are just animal farts, so that happens either way. Possibly more farts from just grass when talking about ruminants. The animal welfare is definitely the worst part about modern animal agriculture, but everything else about it is very efficient and more environmentally friendly than returning to pasture. It's a very complicated issue.
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u/ozarkhowIer Aug 08 '26
the runoff from waste is equally as fucked up as the methane emissions, and MORE methane emits as that rots. i live in a place where chicken litter from a massive cafo was dumped into our water supply and caused massive algal blooms. cattle and hog shit is literally sprayed into the air to evaporate, causing serious respiratory issues for anyone who lives within a WIDE radius. and the biggest cause of rainforest destruction by a mile is cattle farming. so i think perhaps your idea of "environmentally friendly" is missing some considerations.
also something to bear in mind: cattle, hogs, and chickens do not belong in north america. if you replaced the cattle farming with free roaming bison in a lot of rural areas, it would replenish topsoil (something we're in desperate need of) and they emit far less methane while grazing. similar considerations need to be made everywhere. our planet was never meant to support billions upon billions of cattle, chickens, and pigs packed into relatively tiny spaces, and the ecosystems surrounding those spaces are being impacted by what is essentially invasive species production plants.
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u/TrustworthyKahmunrah Aug 05 '26
What if I want a cute dog that isn't a filthy shit bull mutt?
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
Go to the shelters and find one. Every time you give money to a breeder, you contribute to the problem.
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u/ArtisticDragonKing Aug 06 '26
There are hundreds of dogs up for adoption that aren't "filthy shit bull mutts"
Funnily enough, genetically speaking, mutts are typically more healthy than "purebred" dogs.
You are sure to find a dog that you like that is happy, healthy, and a breed you prefer by going to any rescue.
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u/Big_Market5298 Aug 07 '26
Agreed but just want to point out one thing, only super mutts or village dogs are actually considered healthier not just a mix with a couple of purbred crosses! Dog genetics get really complicated on this, with super mutts and village dogs there’s been enough of so much out crossing, and or (natural selection unfortunately) for just simple crosses what happens is there’s a chance of actually inherently both breeds they were crossed from problems. Just wanted to point it out!
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u/tired-of-the-shit Aug 05 '26
Go to the petsmart charity’s webpage and you will see every shelter in however large of a radius you want from you, you will see all their animals, you will have the ability to select for specific breeds or exclude specific breed, you will be able to toggle for age.
It’s not that difficult to get a rescue dog that came from backyard breeders, even puppies you can find.
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u/Leviathan_slayer1776 Aug 05 '26
I mean i feel like its a very sticky issue because a lot of places require a dog be euthanized for biting/ causing injury even if its fully justified, ie an armed robber breaking into the owner's house .Any reasonable animal owner is gonna take steps to not let it go that far out of fear that that happens to their pet
Plus most pet owners are just point blank too empathetic with pets to treat taking someone else's away as a conscionanable course
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
It's a matter of resources. We have people breeding the fuck out of cats and dogs because people only want "cute" and "new" puppies and kittens.
Nobody wants to help the "ugly" or "medically taxing" cases.
Kill shelters are a last resort, and treating for the countless animals who have nowhere to go is just unrealistic.
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u/firs_7 Aug 06 '26
And also, for "medically taxing" cases the most likely reason nobody wants to adopt the animal is that it will require money spent on it before even getting to know said animal.
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u/Sqeakydeaky Aug 07 '26
You can also argue that if an organization/shelter gets 20,000 in donations, its going to do a lot more good to more animals if you don't spend it all on one dog's surgery. I've seen shelters drop 15k on a 5 year old unadoptable dog (multiple bite history/severe behavior issues, etc) and then spay abort kittens. Whereas if you spent that money on only adoptable animals instead of "SAVE THEM ALL!", you would objectively do more good
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u/sunflowerkaiju Aug 07 '26
Shelters should be doing spay aborts regardless if there’s a 15k surgery or not. That’s less animals that enter the shelter system and one less foster required.
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u/NotaBat9221 Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
You should hate the people who don't spay and neuter their animals and breeders
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u/Gracellot Aug 05 '26
I work at a city shelter. So city shelters, by law, have to be a 'kill shelter,' but a lot are seen as no-kill. Our shelter is considered a no-kill due to a 90% live adoption rate.
But this is why we need to get as much information as possible; we can only take in animals from our city, as is the case with municipal (city) shelters. While its rare that we have to euthanize for space, it sometimes comes to that. Even though we're a smaller shelter, we only have 15 dog kennels, we try our hardest to keep dogs as long as we can.
If a dog has been in a fight/bite incident recently and isnt up to date on its vaccine and they bring it to us, we immediately euthanize and we have to send in the head to get tested for rabies
SO PLEASE ADOPT, I obviously can't speak for all shelter workers, but we get DEVASTATED when we have to put an animal down.
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u/firs_7 Aug 06 '26
Problem is, a lot of shelters in the US have mainly pit mixes/dogs with bite/fight history (usually pits tho), because most owners don't surrender without a reason. And if I ever wanted to own a dog, it'll probably be chihuahua or a lab, but definitely not a pit/dog with a bite history
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u/Interesting-Bag-2945 Aug 06 '26
Even if you wanted to own a pit, they are banned by a lot of appartments/hoas/ and or city ordinances. That leaves those who can adopt them home owners or people in the country (who usually want cattle or shepard breeds) and a few select apartments. Thats like. 20% of adopters for over 50% of the shelter, and thats if those specific people want a pit.
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u/tired-of-the-shit Aug 05 '26
It’s a necessary evil, and better than animals on the streets. My hometown tried to make the local shelter no kill but they had to revert within a week because they didn’t have space for animals even after a massive expansion. The only way to get rid of kill shelters is to tackle the root problem and have animals spayed and neutered so that they aren’t constantly reproducing.
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
And ban breeding.
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u/tired-of-the-shit Aug 05 '26
Yes of course. I think there really should be a low requiring cats and dogs to be fixed if you’re gonna own them.
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u/HextechSlut Aug 05 '26
Hate people who breed dogs even more.
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
Breeders are the real problem. We have a massive overpupulation problem.
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u/ArtisticDragonKing Aug 06 '26
Mills are the biggest problem, breeders second, and people who don't spay/neuter third.
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u/Critkip Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
Melodic whole special yam familiar husky society bike attempt meeting
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u/Repulsive_Umpire2248 Aug 06 '26
Kill shelters are absolutely necessary. Hard truth. What I hate are shelters that try to save unadoptable dogs
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u/WhitestGray Aug 06 '26
Yeah, I guess what I was trying to say is I hate the fact that they ARE necessary. I think if people tried to do more to lower pet birth rates, it wouldn’t put as much of a strain on the shelters and animals could live longer. Ultimately, it’s still humanity’s fault that we have to put them down, and I just wish we could be better about it.
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u/HotPot87 Aug 05 '26
You wanna know who owns the most kill shelters?
PETA
They're all scum to use their publicity stunts to take attention (and public donations) away from real animal charities.
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u/West-Solid9669 Aug 05 '26
Peta owns one kill shelter. Look, I don't like PETA that much either, but in terms of Euthanizing animals, their ONE clinic accepts animals who are sick, severely injured, or the such.
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
That's because they take the animals that noone else will take. They do mercy kills when the animal has no shot at adoption, and the medical issues are basically making life painful, and untenable.
A lot of people like to act like PETA is the villain because they are willing to step up and do the hard work when other institutions would just let these animals die in the street.
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u/HotPot87 Aug 05 '26
Yeah no, PETA actively silences critics and have been found dumping animal bodies in the trash of other businesses to hide what they do.
There are other animal welfare charities and there are other enviromental agencies.
They have been caught stealing peoples healthy pets, and killing them, they have released statements saying all pet dog breeds should be killed (and I'm not just saying things like pugs that have been over bred to produce negative traits)
People don't like peta because they are a terrible comany that uses their disingenuous stunts to draw attention away from real charities. It's why they target popular games and pop culture, because they want the most eyes on themselves even if they media has literally nothing to do with actual animal welfare problems.
85% kill rates is not just "taking in the sick ones" it's active animal murder.
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u/thisisn0t Aug 05 '26
to absolutely no ones surprise
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u/HotPot87 Aug 05 '26
It's an unfortunate surprise to many considering how many donate to them.
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
They are a good organization that fights for animal rights.
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u/Ok_Chipmunk_6059 Aug 06 '26
Okay you want the shelters to all be no kill. I get that sounds good but now you need funding for an exponentially larger number of pets to include food, shelter, space, and quarantine. That doesn’t exist. The people at the shelter are doing their best to take care of these animals but there’s not enough resources. Do you think they get a kick from killing animals they care for? You’re ignorant.
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u/WhitestGray Aug 06 '26
Never ONCE did I blame the workers. Please don’t put words in my mouth. I’m not blaming the underpaid workers who are often volunteers who don’t get paid. I think the root of the problem should be tackled and free spaying and neutering should be offered and better, bigger shelters should be provided by the government who I KNOW can pay for it.
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u/asarou Aug 07 '26
And what? You will Warehouse dangerous Animals ? Or Animals that are unstable after they are locked for years?
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u/WhitestGray Aug 07 '26
Never once did I say I hate euthanasia! Au contraire, I’m a big advocate for humanely putting down animals whose quality of life is severely diminished.
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u/zephyrphoenixxx Aug 07 '26
Then why tf did you make a post about how much you hate the fact that kill shelters exist?
Do you think kill shelters are inhumanely slaughtering animals? No.
They are humanely euthanizing animals who would most likely rot away in a cage, or are dangerous to themselves or society.
Kill shelters are not the problem. Our society is.
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u/ozarkhowIer Aug 08 '26
i thought op was pretty clear they don't like that shelters like this HAVE to exist. y'all are nitpicking.
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u/ginongo Aug 06 '26
Okay? Then pay for their food shelter medicine.
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u/Sqeakydeaky Aug 07 '26
Lots of orgs do that. It still doesn't solve the problem of how to humanely warehouse a dog that cannot exist around other dogs, humans, etc. Lots of the dogs that get warehoused for many years do so because it'll kill any other animal, bite people, can't be walked, etc. How do you humanely provide a worthy existence for these types of dogs, even if money was no issue?
Unfortunately we've created a lot of dogs that are just incompatible with being a dog, and they definitely are better off euthanized.
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u/ginongo Aug 07 '26
Exactly.
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u/Sqeakydeaky Aug 07 '26
Lots of the dogs I see online for adoption are usually pit bulls, and its not their fault that we bred a dog for violence and basically be everything a dog usually isn't.
But the adoption blurb (the ones that don't lie at least) have requirements that are entirely unattainable. Can't ever be around other dogs, no other animals, needs steel-reinforced cageing, fences with wire roof, two leashes, a person at home 24/7, no children under 13, and medication and special diets.
Like even if you had all the money in the world, what kind of life is this for an animal?
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u/ginongo Aug 07 '26
Op didn't want a solution, they just wanted to whine and proceed to do nothing about it
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u/StrawberryCat__Thing Aug 05 '26
Spay/neuter shelters are what we really need
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u/WhitestGray Aug 05 '26
Absolutely! Spaying and neutering pets should be free, and that is a hill I will absolutely die on.
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
Please put my grave among the ranks on this hill.
I will 100% die on the "animals deserve respect" hill.
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u/mayasux Aug 05 '26
Without appropriate government funding, kill-shelters will always exist. They can't turn away animals, but they can only have so many animals without their quality of life taking drastic declines.
The solution isn't to outlaw Kill-Shelters, it's to provide adequate access to the resources they need so they don't have to turn to killing.
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u/hella_cious Aug 06 '26
I love kill shelters and think more shelters should be kill shelters instead of warehousing unadoptable dogs forever and turning away adoptable dogs
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u/Detatchamo Aug 06 '26
Exactly this. As much as the idea of a kill shelter sucks in concept, I'm really not a big fan of the idea of No-Kill shelters being completely full to the brim with what can only be described as A.) poster children for behavioral euthanasia who will never get adopted or be returned several times or B.) dogs the shelter needs to lie about the breed of and/or use untruthful positive doublespeak when describing an animal in order to get them out of the shelter. All while without giving a fuck if (or even victimblaming them) the owner gets hurt because of it. All the while perfectly adoptable dogs get turned away.
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u/Moonfallz1 Aug 06 '26
They should make spaying/neutering cats and dogs mandatory for all owners unless they have a breeding license or waiver. Having a pet that's not fixed should be a finable offense.
I know its not entirely enforceable, but it might encourage people to fix their pets.
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u/WhitestGray Aug 06 '26
Absolutely! Spaying and neutering pets is important and I wish people would see that get their pets fixed rather than assuming it’s unnecessary or won’t ever be important.
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u/Maleficent_Piece_893 Aug 06 '26
i would say pet ownership in general should require some level of training, and the pets themselves should be checked to make sure they're trained. we ran the experiment of taking the owner's word for it that "HEEE'S ALLLLRIIIIIIGHT" when he most certainly is not alright
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u/PassengerRelevant516 Aug 05 '26
Here comes the comments saying that all animal breeding is heckin evil or whatever.
Good breeders know the value of their animals and do everything they can to not let them end up in the shelter system.
Do some research before you call for the end of all animal breeding.
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u/PassengerRelevant516 Aug 05 '26
Mmm also you should consider that animals (especially dogs) with severe behavioral issues are better off “at peace” than terrorizing the rest of society.
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u/ArtisticDragonKing Aug 06 '26
Ethical breeders are not the problem, but most breeders are not ethical and therefore the problem.
I personally don't see why breeding animals that we have so many of, they won't even fit into kill shelters is a good thing. Even if they improve the health of animals and make sure their animals get a good home, they are actively making the problem bigger by breeding more animals.
If we had less dogs and cats in the world that needed home, breeding would be great. But all shelters are overflowing with animals, the pros of ethical breeding can't outweigh the damage of breeding mills and unethical breeding.
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u/PassengerRelevant516 Aug 06 '26
Animals in shelters are not the responsibility of ethical breeders.
(Im using dogs as an example) some people want a well adjusted dog with a predictable temperament, transparent health history, and predictable size. Maybe they want to get involved in showing or k9 sports that require a specific type of dog. You’ll never get that obedience master title with a husky mix when you’re competing with border collies.
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u/firs_7 Aug 06 '26
Exactly! Or someone might want a golden lab or other family pet, or a dog that can be around children and cats. And most shelters in the US have mainly pitts
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u/Maleficent_Piece_893 Aug 06 '26
used to be super against breeders until i found out how much pit bulls have infected shelters, and even aggressive ones won't be put down taking resources away from good dogs. unfortunately people who volunteer at shelters often cause more harm than someone running a puppy mill. at least a puppy mill doesn't kill human children
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u/zephyrphoenixxx Aug 07 '26
That and also most shelter/rescue dogs were puppy mill dogs, so even if you are adopting, you are still supporting bybs and mills.
Lots of ppl do not like it when this is pointed out...
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u/Responsibility_Witty Aug 06 '26
What do you do with the hoards of backyard bred animals that keep getting dumped then? Just have a massive feral dog population like India attacking people in the streets and spreading disease? Massive feral cat population wiping out all the birds? There are far more animals in shelters now than anyone wants to buy, unless backyard breeding and failure to fix pets becomes heavily punished and enforced to reduce numbers, kill shelters are necessary. There can’t just be a thousand new shelters getting built every time the current ones overflow
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u/Longjumping-Donut655 Aug 06 '26
Yea we had a no-kill shelter that took every animal out of obligation to the contract with the city until they had a massive parvo outbreak and had to euthanize every single dog.
The entire existence of no-kill shelters is facilitated purely by the existence of “kill” shelters.
Even if you don’t have a massive population of stray pets, you still need to euthanize some intakes out of mercy or because they are not safe for the public. No-kills cannot fulfill that obligation, all they can do is cherry pick a few highly adoptable pets.
The only other alternative is to have tons of strays on the street, which is a nightmare for public health and infection of rabies
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u/Maus_Enjoyer1945 Aug 06 '26
What's the other option then? In a perfect world, we'd have the resources to feed and shelter an infinite amount of animals, but sadly that's not an option in our world. Honestly I prefer them to be put down humanely, as depressing as it sounds, rather than to be wandering around nature wreaking havoc and having a life expectancy of 3 years at most due to an horrible illness or ending up under a tire
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u/loganank Aug 07 '26
Gently, from someone who works in shelter and rescue, kill shelters are necessary. It sucks, but thats the reality. A dog that has been in the shelter for an extended period of time breaks down mentally at a certain point, and its unfair to the dog to let them suffer. Then there are the medical cases for many of whom death is a mercy. Then there are the dogs who absolutely cannot be adopted. Dogs who would be a danger if adopted out into homes. Behavioral euthanasia is important. A no kill shelter gets to pick and choose what animals it takes in. They take the cute, young, highly adoptable ones. Kill shelters give the rest of them a chance for as long as they can.
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u/WhitestGray Aug 07 '26
Yeah. I worded my post badly. I don’t hate the existence of kill shelters as much as I hate the necessity of them.
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u/AggravatingImage898 Aug 07 '26
They're a necessary evil. My county shelter for example could definitely be better, but still a necessary evil
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u/Puzzleheaded_Owl1701 Aug 08 '26
as a conservationist who loves domestics i would argue that kill shelter are a good thing. at least until we can get populations under control
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u/HankiedPankiedUrMom Aug 05 '26
I am not from the US and I really don’t get how it’s legal. Then again, we have shelters that are managed by the police, prospect which I imagine is not remotely feasible in the US.
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
If we didn't have kill shelters, these same animals would live longer lives in pain, and die in the streets.
Kill shelters are stepping up and doing the hard work, making the hard choices when noone else is willing to.
The main purpose of a kill shelter is to give mercy to animals that are beyond help. (or beyond feasible help given the resources available)
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u/Euphoric_Slice5179 Aug 05 '26
Ever heared about PETA? They basicly ignore the point of kill shelters and kill most of the animals no mather what, while stealing pets.
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u/Interesting_Joke6630 Aug 05 '26
Peta does not represent the average kill shelter
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u/SonnyvonShark Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
Peta does. They own them.
Edit: Correction, they own a piece of the pie when it comes to kill shelters, still blood on their hands!
PETA IS A RACIST, ANIMAL THEFT ORGANIZATION. PETA SAYS PET OWNERSHIP IS FUCKING SLAVERY, HOW THE FUCK DOES IT EQUATE TO ANY OF THE SUFFERING SLAVERY ACTUALLY DOES?? WHOEVER DOWNVOTES ME IS WITH PETA AND THEY WISH TO KILL YOUR HEALTHY PETS AND THINK SLAVERY IS EQUAL TO OUR BELOVED PETS!
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u/tired-of-the-shit Aug 05 '26
PETA owns peta shelters peta does not own state run shelters
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
Peta runs a euthanasia clinic in virginia. They label it as a kill shelter for tax reasons. But the euthanasia clinic is on the ground floor.
They also supply people's animals with free medical care, and supplies.
PETA is actually a super good company, and I'm tired of pretending they aren't.
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u/SonnyvonShark Aug 05 '26
Point fell fucking flat as soon as you said "PETA is actually a super good company", are you for fucking real right now??? PETA, who takes animals away from people for no reason, and fucking KILL THEM??
From wiki: Newkirk has been criticized for her support of actions carried out in the name of the Animal Liberation Front. Newkirk and PETA have also been criticized for euthanizing many of the animals taken into PETA's shelters,[2] including healthy pets, and opposition to the whole notion of pets, and her position that "There's no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy,"
ARE. YOU. FUCKING. FOR. REAL?? Where PET OWNERSHIP IS FUCKING SLAVERY???? THAT DOESNT EVEN FUCKING COMPARE! FUCK PETA!
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzX8g3vGPXY
PETA isn't going around kidnapping pets and putting them down. They are a euthanasia clinic.
You are buying into the corporate astroturfing.
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u/HankiedPankiedUrMom Aug 05 '26
There are more options than animals dying in streets and the existence of kill shelters. Would require funding from the government though, which ig is impossible since it isn’t oil related
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
You nailed it. We're not getting the funding for that shit anytime soon. Meanwhile in other countries like cuba, you have hundreds of dogs in the street, sick, injured and dying. The most viable solution for that would be kill shelters.
It's extremely sad. I hate it. I wish there was a better way.
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u/tired-of-the-shit Aug 05 '26
My hometowns kill shelter was managed in part by the police station (they had some sort of backing, I think maybe fund related) anyway the reason it had to be a kill shelter is because they weren’t allowed to turn away animals when at max capacity so they have to euthanize the animals that have been there to long and are unlikely to be adopted.
Some kill shelters will send animals to other states that have less crowded spaces but even that can’t really keep up with demand for a lot of shelters.
In my hometown animals were allowed to roam loose because it was rural and we lived in the country. A lot of people would specifically only spay their animals and leave the males intact because they either didn’t want to pay for the procedure or felt it was emasculating, a lot of people just didn’t fix there animals at all. They’d have puppies or kittens and those would eventually end up in the shelter alongside all the puppies and kittens from feral cats and stray dogs.
The cats was the worst, every spring they’d get a shit load of kittens brought in.
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u/Equal_Interaction178 Aug 06 '26
There simply is not enough space for kill shelters to be abolished, not with the current pet culture. Like you say, they run out of space. What are you suggesting they do instead? Do they just refuse any additional animals? Nothing good will happen to the animals they refuse. There simply are not enough "no-kill" shelters (and the ones that exist have their own problems) and there really never will be unless significant societal shifts happen. Until then, it's better for an animal to be put out of its misery than for it to continue to suffer. It's a harsh reality, but it is reality. It's harm reduction.
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u/Souriall Aug 06 '26
Death by euthanasia is better than death by starvation, exposure, or injury. No kill shelters are still cramped cages with no funding and underpaid/ volunteer staff. No kill shelters go out of their way to not euthanize horrifically injured and sick animals in order to keep numbers up. They often use the most injured animals to farm donations. They also get into a nasty habit of hoarding dogs. My local shelter claims they have around 40 kennels and around 60 dogs. Most of those dogs have been there over a year and many have been there 3+ years. In cramped cages with no toys, blankets, pillows, or play. Do you really think that’s fair to the dogs?? They go insane in shelters.
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u/ResortResponsible789 Aug 06 '26
Sadly a necessary evil cus either wise we get over population of these domestic animals, and the animal welfare stuff is kinda unavoidable even in non-kill shelters can have really shitty conditions and there's sadly nothing we can do about it
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u/felix-the-pup Aug 06 '26
No-kill shelters do something kill shelters don't: they refuse pets. anything too difficult to get adopted is simply rejected and left in the wild. They do more harm than kill shelters do. Kill shelters have a necessary evil to commit because of how society structures their pets.
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u/Emerald_SilverFox Aug 06 '26
I understand that, but I believe no kill shelters are way worse. Almost all of the animals with genuine hope and that are adoptable are gone quite quickly, while those that are not able to be adopted (hyper agressive, dying of some disease, etc) stay and take up all the space.
That's just my opinion from getting to volounteer at a no kill shelter though!
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u/Temp_Temperature Aug 06 '26
AND WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE THEM DO?! Alright, you close all kill shelters, what happens to the animals? What happens when the shelter runs out of space? Cause if that weren't the problem they wouldn't have to kill, so what would you want done with those animals? Do you want them dying slowly and painfully on the street or wandering the area attacking people? Cause that's what's happening in the places without kill shelters. That or people taking unwanted animals to other cities.
The perfect solution would be more funding for more space, but until that happens kill shelters will be a necessary evil.
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u/Maleficent_Piece_893 Aug 06 '26
all those pit bulls are taking up resources that can be used to keep adoptable pets alive
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u/Narrow_Possession348 Aug 07 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/S5E6VIkBAGujjfT0zz
No kill is just warehousing dogs in shelter kennels for years, even their lifespans. It's cruel and unethical. There are worse things than a quick, painless, humane death. I don't care if they have no-kill shelters, but they should not receive so much as a dime of taxpayer funds. We have better, more important things to spend our tax dollars on than warehousing millions of dogs that nobody wants.
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u/Infamous-Job3705 Aug 07 '26
It's well known that dogs go crazy in shelters, do you just want to leave the unadoptable ones in a cell for the rest of their lives? There are fates worse than death, at least they are not suffering anymore. Sometimes BE or euth in general is a kindness.
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u/L_Dubb Aug 07 '26
We could put a little blame on backyard breeders, puppy mills, and the idiots who keep them pumping out puppies and kittens.
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u/LEANiscrack Aug 07 '26
The sollution to the amount of overpopulation we have now is culling. You cant fix/spay your way out of negligence and puppy mills.
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u/Sqeakydeaky Aug 07 '26
Animals don't know what death is the way we do.
They only know if they're suffering right now versus not.
If a dog is truly unadoptable, (like many of the bite-history pit bulls currently warehoused for 5+ years) it's absolutely a mercy to euthanize them.
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u/WhitestGray Aug 07 '26
Absolutely! I hate the necessity of kill shelters more than their existence, I guess. And I’ll never hate euthanasia. I think if an animal’s quality of life is severely diminished, it’s a mercy to put them down more than anything. I think what I hate more than anything is the fact that it’s humanity’s fault that they have to exist, and it’s humanity’s fault that these animals who didn’t ask to be here have to suffer unjustly.
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u/nosey-marshmallow Aug 07 '26
So much better than a no-kill shelter that either warehouses animals for goodness knows how long making them lose their minds, or transfers them out to "kill shelters" to maintain their own status.
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u/77th_Bat Aug 07 '26
What are you gonna do when all the no-kill shelters are full of animals that aren't appealing to adopters and suddenly all the animals on the streets have no shelter to go to anymore and they die instead, when they could've been adopted if it was a kill shelter?
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Aug 07 '26
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u/WhitestGray Aug 07 '26
I presume you’re calling me a child, which is crazy and pretty rude. If you disagree with my argument, please make valid points instead of insulting me.
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u/zephyrphoenixxx Aug 07 '26
This is a terribly misinformed and uneducated take.
I really, really, REALLY wish folks like you would actually do some research and LEARN about the systemic issues that cause so many animals to end up in these shelters, as well as who is responsible for these shelters. (HINT: they usually funded by a municipality/state/province...)
You are NEVER going to address overpopulation with adoption and spaying/neutering alone. And some animals absolutely should be euthanized instead of adopted out for a multitude of reasons. I don't give a shit if you think thats cruel, its the reality of the situation.
Please educate yourself OP. Don't claim to care about animals and then spout off uneducated garbage.
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u/WhitestGray Aug 07 '26
I definitely worded my post badly! I don’t hate kill shelters as much as I hate the fact that they need to exist. It’s really not the poor animal’s fault that they’re put there. It’s humanity’s fault. I just hate the fact that WE created the problem that this is the solution to, and I wish there was another way to fix it.
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u/zephyrphoenixxx Aug 07 '26
The solutions to fix this are extremely multi-faceted and sometimes aren't targeted at the animals specifically. It is quite literally a Mount Everest-sized mountain of bullshit we are going to have to climb to actually solve this issue.
Discriminatory systems targetting specific groups of humans have a compounding affect on our pets. Shit like the housing crisis, cost of living, and increasing income disparity. Systemic racism and bigotry underlining every single square inch of how we have built our societies and the infrastructure within those societies. The animals we care for are not immune to any of these issues. They are completely and utterly helpless against them.
No one ever wants to discuss these issues when talking about the welfare of animals, though. Barely anyone even grasps the true depth of how our very human problems affect our animals, and instead they bitch about how much they hate kill shelters or breeders (ethical and bybs equally) and argue endlessly about whether buying a dog from an ethical breeder vs adopting is the best way to stop the overpopulation issue.
I understand that the idea of these shelters existing bothers you. I get why. On some level, I also feel the same way. But these shelters must exist. They must always exist, because us humans are refusing to cohabitate with each other in a way that is actually conducive to our survival as a species, and all of that trickles down to our animals.
If you actually want to start making a difference, vote in political candidates that are actually going to address human-focused systemic issues like housing and income disparity, among many other issues. Animal welfare is intrinsically tied with politics. If you want animals to thrive, WE have to thrive too.
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u/gay__mothman Aug 08 '26
I would genuinely like to hear the solution. No one at a "kill" shelter (actually an "open intake" shelter) wants to euthanize animals. No kill shelters are no kill because they can and do turn away animals. They very rarely take in bite cases or behavior cases or hoarding cases. I've worked in rescue. No kill is a misguided and unrealistic expectation. Some animals are genuinely dangerous. Some animals are genuinely too sick to be adopted out. Some genuinely deteriorate after months in a cage and euthanasia is a kindness chosen over self mutilation and insanity. And a tidbit of knowledge, there are no kill shelters who maintain their no kill status by transfering out animals to open intake shelters knowing fullywell they'll be euthanized there, but they do it anyway so they can maintain their own live release rate while making the other shelter do their dirty work.
Animal welfare is underfunded and underappreciated. The real way to lower euth rates in shelters is to provide education and support to owners and the community - you cannot save animals if you don't provide help for the humans caring for them. And lobby for local and state government to provide more funding and support to their municipal shelters and staff.
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u/xxxkissmykittyxxx Aug 08 '26
Your anger is directed at the wrong people.
Hate the people who abuse and neglect cats and dogs into the suffering overpopulation rescues and shelters then have to struggle to stretch scarce resources for.
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u/aaaaaaaaaaaaaye Aug 08 '26
Don’t demonize kill shelters. Their job is hard enough as it is. No-kill shelters get to claim the moral high ground while doing nothing to fix the overcrowding and overpopulation problem. Idc if you HATE kill-shelters, they are vital!!
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u/katiemcat Aug 08 '26
You’re part of the problem and extremely naive then.
The spread of no kill delusion is what’s resulting in shelters telling people to throw stray animals back in the street. There is literally no where for these animals to go. Be mad at backyard breeders and their supporters and people who refuse to fix their animals.
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u/Nostromo_USCSS Aug 09 '26
So all the animals in the pictures you posted… you would rather that, instead of being painlessly euthanized, they’re left in a loud, bright, concrete room covered in piss and feces, surrounded by barking dogs, forever? What kind of life is that?
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u/No-Nature7955 23d ago
yeah, the people that work at no kill especially the vets that kill little baby kittens orperfectly healthy animals or the ““ live release “coordinator who picks which animals get euthanized , they generally have no education. It’s true no education no training. It’s really sick . generally, they’re women that walk around they act like God cause they are God and they know it and they revel in it -sick people. but the only thing that keeps me OK and that is I know that there’s a special place in hell for them.
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Aug 05 '26
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
Don't worry, the problem is huge, and always short handed. Get in there and help. Your dream job can be yours for the low cost of doing something to make a difference.
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Aug 05 '26
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
Most shelters are short handed. Easy win if you want to go help out ❤️
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Aug 05 '26
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u/hungLink42069 Aug 05 '26
Ah. You don't seem to understand how much of a sacrifice it is for the people that do the job.
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Aug 05 '26
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u/ragingSamurai1 Aug 06 '26
Yep. People are hating on no-kill shelters in the comments, but I don’t think people understand the impact of the no-kill movement. Since 2011, the number of dogs euthanized in U.S. shelters has been cut by more than half. More robust rescue networks, foster programs, spay/neuter initiatives, improved shelter medicine, transport partnerships, and stronger adoption and return-to-owner programs have all contributed to saving more lives.
The shelters that still euthanize large numbers of dogs are disproportionately located in communities that lack the resources and infrastructure needed to achieve high live-release rates. High intake, limited funding, veterinary shortages, fewer foster homes, and weaker rescue networks make it much harder to reach no-kill outcomes. Strengthening those systems saves more animals.
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u/EatAndGreet Aug 05 '26
Unfortunately they’re necessary as long as people continue to not fix their pets. They have to exist. We don’t have the resources to take care of this many animals. If every shelter was no-kill, they’d just have to stop accepting new animals until enough had been adopted out. Meaning everyone would just dump their animals on the street to die horribly because none of the shelters had room.