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 are disregarded to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits". 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."
A humane society is a group that aims to stop cruelty to animals. In many countries, the term is used mostly for societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCA). In the United Kingdom, and historically in the United States, such societies provide waterway rescue, prevention and recovery services, or may give awards for saving human life.
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.
The Anti-Cruelty Society is an animal welfare organization and animal shelter in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The Anti-Cruelty Society is a private, not-for-profit humane society that does not receive government assistance. It is one of the largest such organizations in the United States. The organization offers adoption, veterinarian, and training services.
An animal rescue group or animal rescue organization are 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.
A backyard breeder is an amateur animal breeder whose breeding is considered substandard, with little or misguided effort towards ethical, selective breeding. Unlike puppy mills and other animal mill operations, backyard breeders breed on a small scale, usually at home with their own pets, and may be motivated by things such as monetary profit, curiosity, to gain new pets and/or working animals, or to show children "the miracle of birth".
An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. Pattrice Jones, co-founder of VINE Sanctuary defines an animal sanctuary as "a safe-enough place or relationship within the continuing hazards that menace everybody". In addition, sanctuaries are an experimental staging ground for transformative human–animal relations. There are four types of animal sanctuaries reflective of the species-belonging of the residents: 1) companion animal sanctuaries; 2) wildlife sanctuaries; 3) exotic animal sanctuaries; and 4) farmed animal sanctuaries.
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.
World Animal Protection, formerly The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is an international non-profit animal rights organization that has been in operation since 1981. The charity describes its vision as: A world where animal rights matter and animal cruelty has ended.
A no-kill shelter is an animal shelter that does not kill healthy or treatable animals even when the shelter is full, reserve Euthanasia for terminally ill animals 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.
Animal rescue or pet rescue may refer to:
Farm Sanctuary is an American animal protection organization, founded in 1986 as an advocate for farmed animals. It was America's first shelter for farmed animals. It promotes laws and policies that support animal welfare, animal protection, and veganism through rescue, education, and advocacy. Farm Sanctuary houses over 800 cows, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigs, sheep, and goats at a 300+ acre animal sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York and more than 100 animals at its location in Acton, California, near Los Angeles.
Best Friends Animal Society, (BFAS) founded in its present form in 1993, is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) animal welfare organization. BFAS does outreach nationwide with shelters, rescue groups and members to promote pet adoption, no-kill animal rescue, and spay-and-neuter practices. Best Friends has a 3-star 'Give With Confidence' rating from Charity Navigator.
Karen Dawn is an American animal rights and welfare advocate and writer.
Wetheriggs Animal Rescue is a registered UK charity. Wetheriggs is an international animal rescue centre now located on the A66 just outside Barnard Castle in County Durham, England. The rescue centre takes in a wide range of animals apart from domestic cats and dogs. Many of the animals were previously pets which could no longer be looked after. The majority of the other animals have been rescued from around the UK. Some of the animals have also come from other animal centres on the world as part of swaps.
Assisi Animal Sanctuary in Conlig, County Down is Northern Ireland's largest independent animal welfare charity. It shelters up to 200 companion animals at any given time. These have included dogs, puppies, cats, kittens, rabbits and guinea pigs. Several hamsters are permanent residents, and have been included in the center's animal welfare education program.
PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of Canada are non-profit organizations dedicated to saving the lives of homeless pets. In the United States, PetSmart Charities is the largest financial supporter of animal welfare and among the 400 largest philanthropic organizations working on any issue. PetSmart Charities was formed in 1994 by PetSmart founders Jim and Janice Dougherty, who chose never to sell dogs and cats within their stores. Their primary goal is to save the lives of homeless pets through programs such as their In-Store Adoption Centers in many PetSmart locations, Rescue Waggin' disaster relief program, grant program for animal welfare agencies across North America, and community adoption events. Another focus of the organization is increasing spay/neuter services to help communities solve the problem of pet overpopulation.
Network for Animals (NFA) is a campaign-directed animal welfare organization that financially supports and provides logistical help for animal shelters, animal welfare initiatives, and raises public awareness about animal issues in Australia, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Mauritius, Montenegro, the Philippines, South Africa, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, the United States, Zimbabwe, Australia, Malta and Israel.