Pet adoption is the process of transferring responsibility for a pet that was previously owned by another party. Common sources for adoptable pets are animal shelters, rescue groups, or other pet owners. Some organizations give adopters ownership of the pet, while others use a guardianship model wherein the organization retains some control over the animal's future use or care.
An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would be penned or impounded until they were claimed by their owners.
An animal rescue group or animal rescue organization is a group dedicated to pet adoption. These groups take unwanted, abandoned, abused, or stray pets and attempt to find suitable homes for them. Many rescue groups are created by and run by volunteers, who take animals into their homes and care for them — including training, playing, handling medical issues, and solving behaviour problems — until a suitable permanent home can be found.
In some countries there is an overpopulation of pets such as cats, dogs, and exotic animals. In the United States, six to eight million animals are brought to shelters each year, of which an estimated three to four million are subsequently euthanized, including 2.7 million considered healthy and adoptable. Euthanasia numbers have declined since the 1970s, when U.S. shelters euthanized an estimated 12 to 20 million animals. Most humane societies, animal shelters and rescue groups urge animal caregivers to have their animals spayed or neutered to prevent the births of unwanted and accidental litters that could contribute to this dynamic.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. It works on issues including pets, wildlife, farm animals, horses and other equines, and animals used in research, testing and education. As of 2001, the group's major campaigns targeted factory farming, animal blood sports, the fur trade, puppy mills, and wildlife abuse.
A no-kill shelter is an animal shelter that does not kill healthy or treatable animals based on time limits or capacity, reserving euthanasia for terminally ill animals, animals suffering poor quality of life, or those considered dangerous to public safety. A no-kill shelter uses many strategies to promote shelter animals; to expanding its resources using volunteers, housing and medical protocols; and to work actively to lower the number of homeless animals entering the shelter system. Up to ten percent of animals could be killed in a no-kill shelter and still be considered a no-kill shelter.
North Shore Animal League America, headquartered in Port Washington, New York, is the largest no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization in the world. Marianne H. Sanders founded the League in 1944, and the League's mission has been saving the lives of pets through adoption, rescue, spay/neuter and advocacy initiatives. Each year, the League rescues, nurtures and adopts nearly 20,000 pets nationwide, and to date, has placed nearly one million puppies, kittens, cats and dogs into screened homes. One of the first animal rescue agencies on the ground in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the League rescued more than 1,400 pets from the region.
AB 1634 was a 2007 bill in the California State Legislature which would require that dogs and cats in California be spayed or neutered by 6 months of age.
Rocket Dog Rescue is a volunteer nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California, devoted to pet adoption and animal rescue. It is the most prominent of several local private organizations that save dogs from euthanasia by caring for them and finding new families. The program places dogs from animal shelters in the San Francisco Bay Area into foster homes while awaiting adoption. It also treats medical and behavioral problems such as socialization issues, neuters and spays the animals, and provides vaccines, so as to make their animals adoptable.
BAD RAP is an animal welfare and rescue group based in Oakland, California, devoted to caring for and improving the public image of pit bull terriers as pets.
The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is a volunteer-based, non-government organization whose goal is to prevent animal cruelty through education, animal sheltering and advocacy, based in Quezon City, Philippines. It was founded in 1954 by Muriel Jay. PAWS believes that the creation of a more peaceful society starts with the widening of mankind's circle of compassion which includes animals, thereby envisions a nation that respects animals, practices responsible pet ownership and protects wildlife. The volunteer-based organization rehabilitates these animals in the hope of finding them new homes and a second chance at a good life. PAWS does not take in pets of other people, but only victims of cruelty or neglect where the animal offenders are charged with violation of the Animal Welfare Act in court.
DogTown is a National Geographic Channel series set at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a 33,000-acre (130 km2) animal facility in southern Utah. It is a documentary-style program that profiles staff and volunteers as they care for dogs in need of homes. Many animals featured are severely abused or neglected or in need of specialized medical treatment. The goal is usually to secure each dog an adoptive home but if this is not possible, animals are cared for at the sanctuary for the remainder of their lives.
The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS), branded as Humane Canada, is a non-profit animal welfare organization in Canada, representing humane societies, SPCAs, and animal rescue organizations. The organization's stated goal is to promote the welfare and humane treatment of animals and work to end animal cruelty.
Karen Dawn is an American animal rights and welfare advocate and writer.
John Garcia is a dog trainer, star of National Geographic Channel's four-season DogTown series, and holder of a Guinness World Record.
Adopt a Pet is an adoption web service that advocates pet adoption, gathering information from over 15,000 pet shelters in the U.S. and Canada, with a searchable data base. The web site promotes spaying and neutering of pets and pet adoption through conventional and social media presence, public service announcements, and interactions with local governments. Since 2015, Adopt a Pet has been offering its visitors manuals for pets.
The Davinci Foundation for Animals (DFA) is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that assists animals in need, both locally and globally. The Foundation is funded through donations and through the support of the arts, which includes but is not limited to artists, authors, musicians, and entertainers. The foundation is the creator of "Davinci Artist/s", a rescue movement that supports and inspires artists of all fields to support rescue and animal welfare through their work.
Regional Animal Protection Society (RAPS) is a no kill animal services agency in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. RAPS operates the RAPS Cat Sanctuary, a fostering network, social enterprise thrift stores, and the RAPS Animal Hospital, a full-service animal clinic.
The Soi Dog Foundation is a nonprofit organisation for the welfare of stray dogs and cats. Its headquarters is in Phuket, Thailand, and it is a legally registered nonprofit organisation in Thailand, the US, Canada, Australia, France, UK, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Its primary goal is to care for homeless and abused dogs in Thailand. It was established by British couple John and Gill Dalley with the help of Margot Homburg Park in Phuket in 2003.
Sherry Woodard is an American animal behavior consultant, certified dog trainer, and a star cast member of National Geographic Channel's four-season DogTown series.
