We can only help as many as we have the foster space & resources for, and our primary mission is to save those in shelters who have been abandoned, orphaned, abused, injured and are in need of medical care, along with those that are senior or special needs. In other words, the dogs that have no where else to turn.
Most city/county animal shelters are "kill" shelters. They do the very best they can, but with so many unwanted animals, usually they can only keep dogs a few days, or a few weeks at most. The law requires that strays be held three days, but there are no such requirements for owner surrenders.
Owner surrender dogs are not lost, and no owner is looking for them - the owner has given them up. They are often the first to be destroyed, often the same day they are given up. Unfortunately, often large dogs, or dogs over a few months old, are the first to be put down, as they are the hardest to place. 12 million dogs are put down in shelters every year in the United States. Don't think it won't happen to yours.
Even if they are not immediately killed, surrendering a pet to a shelter is incredibly stressful and frightening. They will be surrounded by hundreds of other pets who are crying, shaking, and barking, wondering where their families are, and there still is no guarantee they will make it out alive.
Please do whatever you need to do to keep your pet with you. You are your pets' family, please don't break the promise of forever to them.
It is an amazing new tool designed through the Petco Foundation to help pets go from their current home directly to their new adopter without ever entering a shelter, placing additional burden on a rescue, or ending up in dangerous hands via a classified site. It guides individuals who are rehoming a pet and gets their pet seen by thousands of potential adopters on Adopt-a-Pet.com.
