A rising problem in the United States has become the Shelter Dog Crisis. A dog shelter, also known as a pound, is a place where stray, lost, abandoned, or surrendered dogs are housed. There are many different types of shelter animals, but the majority are dogs. The fact that there are neglected dogs in a shelter is heartbreaking alone, but what makes the issue worse is that most of these dogs end up dying. The shelter does not have enough money to provide food for all of these dogs, especially because more come in, so they cannot keep all of them alive. Due to this, they get euthanized. On average, 670,000 shelter dogs are euthanized every year in the United States and this issue continues to get worse.

Euthanization is the process of putting an animal to death humanely. Most of the time, veterinarians or trained professionals will inject a drug into the animal, and they will be put to rest in a matter of seconds. Why are these dogs getting euthanized? These dogs get euthanized for a variety of reasons. Starting with the common cause is that the workers and owners of the shelter are not able to provide for all of them; the workers have to feed and take care of these dogs, but that costs money. As more dogs come in, they do not have enough money to provide food, shelter, and medical care. Another issue is space. The shelters only have so much space, and as the number of dogs coming in continues to rise, the shelters have to make a tough choice on which ones to accept. Finally, there has been a huge shortage of workers and people to provide and help for the dogs in these shelters. Sacramento City Express states that “Front Street Animal Shelter is being affected by an ongoing veterinarian shortage. Increased pet adoptions during the pandemic and more veterinarians retiring from the profession than entering it are contributing factors in the crisis.” 

This issue has become incredibly disheartening, but there are ways to help. A critical issue as to why these dogs are not being adopted is because of a common belief that shelter dogs are bad or there is something wrong with them.  Yes, many dogs could indeed be in a shelter because they were rowdy or sick, but that certainly does not mean that all shelter dogs are problematic. According to HSNT.org, shelter dogs are more likely to be healthy as they are provided with a variety of medical care. This includes vaccinations and necessary vetting before being adopted. If you are wondering how to help these canine friends, there are many ways. First of all, you can help spread awareness by using social media and other platforms to advertise different shelters. If more people see where these places are located and what dogs are available, more people may be inclined to visit these shelters. Another way to help is to buy a shelter dog the next time you’re looking to buy a pet. Many people adopt from breeders or companies like Petsmart, but shelter dogs can be just as perfect.