Importance of Animal Shelters

Given the often unsustainable situation of street animals, the spaces that are created for them are essential for many reasons. Animal shelters are relatively new when you consider that throughout much of the 20th century, cities solved the problem through kennels or the killing of stray animals due to the danger that they could represent but also due to the lack of awareness about the rights of these living beings.

A place that is nourished by the idea of ​​rights for all living beings

One of the main reasons for the existence of an animal shelter is the one that establishes that a domestic animal such as a dog or a cat in the urban environment is a responsibility of the human being since we are the ones who create these spaces and we must ensure that they are livable for all equally. This means that we cannot ignore the animals that live next to us in the city, without an owner, and that caring for and protecting them is one of the tasks that we must carry out. Animals have rights and therefore harming them, causing them pain or acting negligently towards them can be punished by law.

This space where animals are kept (usually dogs and cats but also others such as rabbits, mice, pigs, horses, cows, goats) are intended to protect them and ensure at least a good quality of life. In the best of cases, the animals that live there have access to a adoption and they are taken to private homes where, in addition to becoming pets, they gain an identity and with it a better future.

The need for public space to be hygienic and safe for all

In addition to the problem of animal rights, perhaps what is most valued by the volunteers who usually work in these places, we must also mention another very important problem: that of health public. Abandoning animals, letting them roam without providing them with the necessary care and allowing them to reproduce without any kind of care is undoubtedly a complex problem for humans as well. This is so because the packs or groups of animals can become violent, destroy what is find in their path in search of food, spread diseases and even hurt those who can cross them

The sterilization of animals also prevents the birth of new specimens that will live their lives in the street, without food, exposed to diseases, violence or accidents and that can also be dangerous. That is why free castration campaigns are carried out and the aim is to raise awareness about the importance of these treatments.

Images: Fotolia – Celia, Matyas Rehak