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Euthanasia within animal shelters is a highly controversial topic. Traditionally, shelters will euthanize animals after a certain length of time spent in the shelter, which many view as unfair to the animals. No-kill shelters have evolved as a response to the traditional shelter methods, and are generally viewed as more ethical organizations.

This website explores a fraction of the issues surrounding euthanasia, and seeks to determine what circumstances and methods might be the most ethical for animal shelters to use. Dogs are particularly susceptible to stress, since they are highly attuned to humans, and there are many opportunities for shelters to reduce stress in dogs. Euthanasia, however, may not be as purely unethical as some think, when one considers stress issues.

Alternatives to euthanasia are also explored by this website. It is hoped that both traditional and no-kill shelters will be able to make use of recommendations provided here, and implement programs and techniques that will improve dog welfare within shelters.

Above all, one must consider:

Is killing an animal just to make space for another animal truly euthanasia?