How To Empty The Humane Society

We’ve all heard the saying: “Adopt, don’t shop!” but what does that actually mean? And why is it everywhere?

In other words, how do we empty an animal shelter?

“Dog Is Love,” an amazing book about how dogs’ brains work, explains lots of important reasons a dog would or wouldn’t get adopted. The author, Clive, explains, “People visiting a shelter typically ask to look at only one dog. They either go home with that dog, or no dog at all.”

When an animal goes inside a shelter like the Humane Society, nobody is performing dog breed DNA tests. Instead, the employees do some guesswork and try to identify the dog breed based on looks and personality, and honestly, they’re not good at it. Only 1 in 20 of their guesses are correct (that’s only 5%!) so most labels are misleading. Not only are they misleading, but they may even lead others away from certain dogs, not wanting to adopt a particular breed.

By not putting a name tag on the cage, you can prevent this. Let’s say I’m trying to get myself a German Shepherd. If the animal shelter doesn’t own a German Shepherd, I’m probably not sticking around. If they do, I’ll leave with one. It’s just how it works.

But let’s say you ask for a German Shepherd, and they say they ‘don’t know’ if they have one or not. That would make you look around, which in turn could cause you to fall in love with a different dog there.

When an animal shelter tested this theory, it worked. A higher percentage of dogs got adopted.

A study found that dog behavior is important in a study, too. When scientists recorded 1-minute videos of dogs in an animal shelter, the dog’s behavior seemed to matter. Dogs that seemed interested but weren’t overly excited got adopted before any other dog. This could be the life-changing factor that could let a pit bull mix get adopted, so let your local humane society know about this. They may be short-staffed, but all someone has to do is throw food into the kennel every once in a while, which can make the dogs more interested in people walking by.

Another way you can help an animal shelter is by neutering or spaying your pet. You’re not breeding them anyways (and if you are, I do hope you’re a professional, otherwise you shouldn’t be breeding them) and it can help animal shelters tremendously. If your pet gets lost and they’re not spayed or neutered, they can have tons of puppies out in the wild. A Neapolitan Mastiff broke the record with 24 puppies in one litter– imagine those were born on the street. All of those puppies could fill an animal shelter- if they ever got caught, that is. What if they reproduce again?

Also, spaying and neutering your pets can make them calmer and less aggressive, because their hormones aren’t kicking in. And embarrassing habits such as humping might go away (nobody wants to take their dog to the park just to have them hump everyone!) If you spay your dog early enough, they won’t mark their territory like unneutered males do.

Lots of animal shelters allow people to foster their pets. In other words, people will take the dog home and take care of it until the animal shelter or you find a home for the dog. It’s an easy way to bond with other dogs but not commit to full-time pet parenthood, since a lot of people aren’t ready for that. Just make sure your foster dog doesn’t become a #fosterfailure!

You can also volunteer at animal shelters to pitch in and help. They don’t make a lot of money, so volunteering can be a great help for them. If you don’t have the time, you can always donate treats, toys, or just money.

Now, to the part you’ve been waiting for. Adopt, Don’t Shop. What’s that all about? And here is the truth.

I will most likely be getting into greater detail in the next post, but here’s the short story. Lots of dog companies breed puppies for money– selling them for thousands of dollars. And these unfortunate puppies go through a lot before getting shipped to you. The cages are cramped and dirty, with hardly any food or water. These dogs often have lots of illnesses and infections, with short lifespans.

These puppies can be shipped to pet stores or bought from a website with a misleading image of a puppy with bows and flowers, sitting all cute and adorable.

This is exactly why you don’t buy puppies unless it’s from a reputable breeder. You should always stop by your animal shelter first to see what kinds of loving dogs they have there. You may just leave with your new best friend.

What should my next post be?

• How badly inbred is your purebred dog?
• Debunking pitbull myths
• The truth behind backyard breeders