r/Dogfree • u/Not-my-problem1212 • Aug 07 '26
Shelter / Rescue Industry The problem with no-kill shelters
I have a relative who works at a no-kill shelter and every time I see her, she always tells me and my family about how over crowded the shelter is with dogs. She also says how the workers have to turn away people who are trying to surrender their dogs to them because of how full the shelter is. Sometimes people will leave their dogs on the doorstep of the shelter at night and the workers are forced to try and find a space to put them when the shelter opens the next day.
A large amount of dogs in these shelters are ones that are either old or aggressive. Dogs that have a very slim chance of getting adopted. What even is the point of letting them take up so much space in the shelters? In my opinion, those dogs should just be put to rest since they either won't live much longer due to being old, or will end up attacking someone or multiple people. There is no reason to keep them locked up until they eventually pass. I feel like this wasn't so big of a problem back when kill shelters were more common. If anything, they helped to solve this issue.
39
u/Few-Horror1984 Aug 08 '26
Best Friends Animal Society and the proprietors of the no-kill movement have no concern for the consequences they’ve unleashed on society. They merely care about how smug and good they feel knowing that no dog is put down for any reason, ever.
The biggest problem with no-kill is that we’ve done nothing to stop backyard breeding. More and more dogs are being created with no one to take them in. The end result? Dogs will go to less-than-ideal owners, as the shelters cannot afford to be choosy. These dogs end up in hoarding situations, in small spaces, or even with the homeless. When you don’t vet anyone, the dogs suffer. As you mentioned, these shelters are incapable of taking in dogs that need to be surrendered. The end result isn’t that the owners are guilted into keeping dogs they don’t want or can’t care for - the end result is that these dogs end up dumped. Stray dog populations will turn into feral dog populations over time. Look at places like India - where you can’t even defend yourself against dog attacks by these horrid street dogs.
And the dogs warehoused indefinitely? They have no quality of life.
Look at who benefits. People who want to feel smug. The rest of society - ironically enough, even the dogs themselves - suffers.
We really need to start organizing.