Animal shelters have progressively become better at building relationships between adopters and finding the right dog for them. Unfortunately, the staff at animal shelters still face many problems with finding homes for adoptable animals.
Euthanization
Though a type of shelter known as a "no-kill" shelter has been developed and shelters have become overall more proactive about finding homes for adoptable dogs, there are still animal shelters where the majority of dogs are euthanized. Urban and rural areas especially still have this problem.
Overcrowding
Another problem for some urban and rural animal shelters is overcrowding from too many stray animals being brought in to the shelters. Overcrowding results in kennels where the animals begin fighting and become overstressed; overcrowding also means a bigger chance of disease developing in the kennels.
Common Animals
There are some shelters where the majority of animals available for adoption are adolescent dogs (dogs between nine months and two years of age) that have high energy levels, which are the types of dogs most people are not looking to adopt. These dogs tend to be of either pit bull type, a herding breed or a hunting breed, depending on where the shelter is located and the prevalence of breeds in the area.
What Adopters Are Looking For
Most people want to adopt puppies and kittens, and, in some areas, there are not many puppies and kittens being relinquished to the shelters. Shelters that have a demand for young animals, but few available, often contact other shelters about bringing in young animals from other areas.
After Adoption
Because behavior and training problems with adopted animals don't arise until a week or two after adoption, shelters have started to offer post-adoption services. Some of these services may include advice, training sessions and house visits from shelter staff to see if the problem can be helped or if the shelter needs to take the pet back.
Tags: shelters have, animal shelters, animals available, finding homes, finding homes adoptable