An animal shelter is a warm place that shelters animals who are homeless, lost or abandoned. It is a great place to find a great variety of dogs and cats. The animals are kept in the shelter until it is adopted by someone who wants to own a pet.

There are some animal shelters that humanely put animals down, that have not been adopted in a certain period of time. But there are others have some policies of only putting them down, due to age or illness.

The different Types of shelters are explained below.

Animal control agency

Animal control agencies, or otherwise known as municipal shelters or in other terms “dog pounds”, are usually nonprofit organizations, they are there to enforce animal related ordinances, and are contracted by the city. They also provide educational services, for pet adopters, and owners alike. They also provide low cost neutering and spaying surgery. They also provide vaccinations, behavior training or veterinary care, and other services.

No kill shelters

Some shelters had adapted the attitude of “no kill”, and they support healthy and adoptable animals.  Due to some shelters having limited finances, the number of animals that can be accepted into the shelter, are limited. Some animals can be denied into the shelter due to poor health.  Many believe “No Kill” shelters accept some and all the types of worthy animals, but many are refused due to lack of the space or its incapable ones to adopt the status.

Open Door Shelters

Open Door shelters are those shelters that accept all types of animals, and with out a waiting list, and a no fee. A shelter may ask for donations, but a true “open door” shelter will not require a fee to surrender a pet. An “Open Door Shelter” does not discriminate due to age, breed, medical issues, or behavior status in accepting animals into their facility. The shelters, often taken in a large number of animals, and thus needs to work hard to find adoptable homes, and to find more volunteers.

Animal sanctuary

Usually animal sanctuaries will look after animals, usually for the remainder of their lifetime, and they might not attempt to find them home.  Most of these places will take in animals that are not adoptable, such as unsocial cats, wild animals, pets who require special care, or animals with medical conditions, that make adopting them a difficult thing.

Rescue organization

The animal rescue organizations are not animal shelters, but they share the same objective of animal shelters. The animal shelters are characterized as having a dedicated physical position and importing themselves with many different types of animals, since the majority of work of groups of the rescue with a specific race or type of animal and have the volunteers that they keep the animals in its home until the adoption, equally known as the foster care. The groups of the rescue get frequent animals of the local animal shelters. Nation Breed clubs are often tied to these rescue groups.

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