The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States."
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.
A puppy mill, also known as a puppy farm, is a commercial dog breeding facility characterized by quick breeding and poor conditions. Although no standardized legal definition for "puppy mill" exists, a definition was established in Avenson v. Zegart in 1984 as "a dog breeding operation in which the health of the mill’s dogs is disregarded to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits". They are cited as being a result of increased demand for household pets, especially after World War II. The Veterinary Medical Association of the Humane Society of the United States defines the main characteristics of a puppy mill as "emphasis on quantity over quality, indiscriminate breeding, continuous confinement, lack of human contact and environmental enrichment, poor husbandry, and minimal to no veterinary care."
Cats Protection, formerly the Cats Protection League, is a UK charity dedicated to rescuing and rehoming stray, unwanted or homeless cats and educating people about cats and cat welfare. The organization was founded as the Cats Protection League on 16 May 1927 by Jessey Wade, at a meeting in Caxton Hall, London. The name was shortened in 1998. The current Chief Executive is John May.
Blue Cross is a registered animal welfare charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1897. The charity provides veterinary care, offers expert behavioural help, and finds homes for pets in need. Their pet bereavement service supports those who are struggling to cope with the loss of a much-loved pet.
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.
Peter Joseph Egan is a British actor and animal rights activist.
A dog licence is required in some jurisdictions to be the keeper of a dog. Usually a dog-licence identifying number is issued to the owner, along with a dog tag bearing the identifier and a contact number for the registering organization. If a stray pet is found with the tag, a rescuer can call the registering organization to get current contact information for the animal.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a registered charity to promote animal welfare in Hong Kong, with outreach services to China.
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.
The potcake dog is a mixed-breed dog type found on several Caribbean islands. Its name comes from a traditional local dish of seasoned rice and pigeon peas; overcooked rice that sticks to the bottom of the cooking pot is commonly mixed with other leftovers and fed to the dogs. Although appearance varies, potcakes generally have smooth coats, cocked ears, and long faces.
The National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to promoting animal welfare and animal husbandry practices, strengthening the human-animal bond, and safeguarding the rights of responsible animal owners and professionals through research, public education and public policy. The NAIA mission is "to promote the welfare of animals."
DogsBlog.com is a UK dog rescue website founded by Ryan O'Meara and Kim Bruce, and set up by K9 Media Ltd. It was launched in January 2007, and has since found new homes for over 21,000 dogs via the website which provides a free service for 212 different rescue shelters.
The National Animal Welfare Trust (NAWT) is an animal welfare charity founded in 1971, which operates rescue and rehoming centres for companion animals. It has branches in Watford, Berkshire, Essex, Bedfordshire and Cornwall. They operate a number of premises, including Trindledown Farm, the UK's only retirement home for elderly pets. Formerly known as the Animal Welfare Trust (AWT), it originated from the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.
Cropping is the removal of part or all of the external flaps of an animal's ear. The procedure sometimes involves bracing and taping the remainder of the ears to train them to point upright. Almost exclusively performed on dogs, it is an old practice that was once done for perceived health, practical or cosmetic reasons. Veterinary science states there is no medical or physical advantage to the animal from the procedure, leading to concerns of animal cruelty over performing unnecessary surgery on animals. In modern times, cropping is banned in many nations, but is still legal in a limited number of countries. Where permitted, it is seen only in certain breeds of dog, such as pit bull and bull terrier type breeds, the Doberman Pinscher, Schnauzer, Great Dane, Boxer and Cane Corso.
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.
Jennifer Skiff is an American author, journalist and television producer, best known for writing inspirational books and animal welfare diplomacy.
The British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a non-profit animal welfare organization which advocates for animal protection legislation, operates animal shelters, and runs educational workshops and public awareness programs throughout British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1896, it is a registered charitable organization and one of the largest such animal welfare organizations in North America. As of 2017, BC SPCA had 36 branches, over 500 staff members, nearly 5500 volunteers, operated 5 veterinary hospitals/clinics and a wildlife rehabilitation centre, and sheltered more than 22000 animals. It is also one of the few animal welfare organizations to monitor animals in film.
