There are over 135 million pets in the United States of America. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), approximately 6.3 million of those pets pets enter USA animal shelters each year. About 920,000 of them are euthanized. Now looking at 920,000 compared to 135 million makes it seem almost insignificant. However, look at it as an individual amount, it is almost one million pets being killed every year. It’s not the animal’s fault, and they’re euthanized all because there’s no more room at the shelter, or if they’ve been in the shelter for a long time, or if they aren’t as youthful as other animals at the shelter (ages 5+). They don’t deserve that.

During COVID quarantine, many people started surrendering their pets due to the inability to take care of them. Inflation went crazy throughout this time and is the reason there was an increase in shelter animals, causing more of them to be euthanized.

Most shelters are non-profit organizations, so they don’t have much money to spare. This limits the amount of money they have to spend on possible expansions or more kennels in addition to the expense of all the equipment and supplies for the animals. This is why so many shelters are so grateful to receive donations of toys, food, and other necessary items.

Now, it is obviously impossible to completely stop kill shelters altogether. That’s completely unrealistic because they’re already a large part of society. It is quite inhumane, however, that almost one million animals are euthanized due to the fault of people.

There are many things people can do to help ease this problem. For instance, anyone can donate to a local animal shelter. Supporting local businesses, especially non-profit organizations, is such a good way to give back. Also, people can decide to shop at shelters for new pets instead of going to a breeder, especially if the animal is being adopted from a kill shelter. Who knows, it could be saving the lives of innocent animals about to be unfortunately euthanized.

NPHS freshman Emma Wetzel said: “If people are adopting more animals, it will help the shelter numbers go down, and eventually it’ll get [better].”

This reinforces the idea that anyone looking for a pet could save a life, or lessen the number of animals going through shelter environments. When stopping by a nearby shelter, a person could leave with a new best friend.

If YOU are eligible to donate or know someone looking to adopt, go to https://www.sthuberts.org to support your local animal shelter!