Animal shelters need an open-door policy to save lives

America's greatest advocate for shelter animals is concerned that many animal shelters in the US are sticking to pandemic methods for potential adopters and requiring that they make an appointment rather than allowing people who want to adopt a shelter animal to simply turn up and have a look. This is leading to more killings of shelter animals because of less adoptions according to Nathan.

America's rescue centres need to revert to the pre-pandemic methods asap to save the lives of shelter animals.

Nathan Winograd says this in an email to me:

"A new study proves that requiring an appointment to adopt out animals leads to fewer adoptions — and fewer adoptions leads to more killing. The No Kill Advocacy calls on “shelters” to open the doors."

I confirmed this through ChatGPT which said the following:

Yes, it is true that some animal shelters in the US have shifted to an appointment-based system for adoptions rather than allowing walk-ins, and this change has been linked to a decrease in the number of adoptions.

This trend gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many shelters adopted appointment-only systems to manage social distancing and reduce the spread of the virus. While this system helped shelters manage the flow of visitors and ensure that they had enough staff to assist each potential adopter, it also had some unintended consequences.

Critics argue that requiring appointments can create barriers for people who might otherwise adopt on impulse or visit a shelter on a whim, leading to fewer animals being adopted. Potential adopters may find it less convenient to plan a visit in advance, and some may be discouraged by the additional steps required to schedule an appointment.

On the other hand, supporters of the appointment system believe that it can lead to more thoughtful and prepared adoptions, as it gives shelter staff more time to assess potential adopters and match them with the right animals.

Overall, while the appointment-only system can have benefits, it is true that in some cases, it has led to a reduction in the number of adoptions.

Nathan adds:

Data shows that shelter intakes remain below pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, 6.8 million dogs and cats entered U.S. shelters. In 2023, that number was down to 6.5 million. In 2024, that number continues to remain below the baseline. Despite this, dog killing is up 12% from pre-pandemic levels, and cat deaths are up from 2022.

And the following:

Not surprisingly, allowing people to visit the kennels without an appointment led to increased adoptions. Moreover, adoptions didn’t just increase slightly during these periods; they skyrocketed by 82%. This was also true of large dogs, which pound managers argue are the most challenging to adopt — and are often killed in greater numbers. Despite limited hours when people could visit the kennels without an appointment — two days a week for a meagre 2.5 hours each of those days — those hours accounted for 83% of large dog adoptions. This one change — ending pandemic-era closures by fully opening to the public without an appointment — will vastly increase adoption and significantly reduce killing.

Comment: is this change in MO a sign of post-pandemic laziness? It makes life easier for shelter administrators if visitors have to make an appointment. There are less people milling around the shelter. I sense that this new MO is down to shelter administrators wanting an easier life.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.