Most of the people working feverishly in the background to keep pet overpopulation under control and to keep animals from being euthanized are non-profit organizations. Volunteers donate enormous amounts of time, money and energy, all because they care too much about the animals to stand idly by. Vets often set aside a few days in the year to perform mass spayings and neuterings on feral cats and dogs, covering the expenses themselves. But volunteers can only do so much. An individual shelter accepts literally hundreds of litters a year, and they are often short-staffed and have extremely limited resources. They can only give so much, and though it breaks their hearts, many needy animals must be turned away because of a lack of money or space.
To adopt my kittens, I had to pay a fee of $75 per kitten, but that included a free spay/neuter coupon, a coupon for a microchip implantation, and a coupon for a free vet exam. It also included all the expenses the kittens had accrued while staying at the shelter: food, water, litter, and toys.
It is heart-wrenching to read some of the stories posted on various shelter sites. Some of the animals have gone through unspeakable tortures. For example, a 2 month old black and white kitten was born on the land of people who did not like cats. When she and her littermates were discovered, the family used them for target practice with their BB guns. She was the only survivor. Three kittens were rescued after someone tied them in a sack, then tried to drown them in a bucket of bleach. Two of the kittens ended up dying of complications. Dogs have been found after being thrown out of the windows of moving cars, cats have been found hacked to pieces. A friend of mine had three of her dogs poisoned by a neighbor who did not like animals. All of this senseless violence against animals who, for the most part, cannot protect themselves. Anyone who has owned a dog knows how trusting they are. And yet, this trust is too often violated by callous owners who decide for one reason or another that their animals are not worth caring for anymore, and the poor animal gets dumped on the doorstep of vet clinics and pet shelters, or they get left in parks and out on streets. There are so many traumatized animals in shelters that just can't understand where their owners have gone, and why they can't go home.