According to the ASPCA, shelters take in approximately 6.3 million animals every year across the nation. So, what do animal shelters do, exactly?

Give Animals a Temporary Home and Medical Care

Shelters take in homeless animals — such as stray cats and dogs or pets who've been removed from unsatisfactory homes — for temporary care. They give a safe, clean home to animals who need one, provide medical care for sick animals and work to connect animals with new families that can care for them permanently. Shelters are mostly nonprofit entities and rely on donations or adoption fees to continue running and providing services.

Serve the Community

Animal shelters work to reunite lost pets with their pet parents and keep stray animals off the streets, which helps control the pet population and maintain public health. Many shelters also partially fund low-cost vaccine and veterinary care clinics that are typically available to the public, even if your pet didn't come from the shelter.

Provide Volunteer Opportunities

Animal shelters provide meaningful volunteer opportunities and ways to connect people — young and old alike — through their love of animals, even if adopting a pet isn't in the cards for their households.

Can You Find Puppies and Kittens in Shelters?

Animal shelters don't have age limits and often accommodate every age range of dogs and cats available — and sometimes other furry or scaly creatures.

Adopting an adult cat or bringing home an older dog may have many benefits, such as potentially skipping the house training, having a more predictable temperament and getting a pet who may already have some basic obedience skills from the get-go. But if your heart is set on adopting a puppy or kitten, your local animal shelter should be your first stop.

Do Shelter Animals Have Behavioral Problems?

Maybe you're open to adopting an older pet but worry about their unknown past. It's a common misconception that pets at animal shelters come with a range of behavioral concerns, but rest assured that behavioral issues aren't the reason most animals end up in shelters. To set some animal shelter facts straight, the top three reasons animals are surrendered to shelters are all based on human limitations:

1. The person surrendering has too many animals.
2. The person has a housing issue preventing them from keeping an animal.
3. The caretaker has passed away or is experiencing health problems, leaving them unable to care for the animal.

The myth that shelters are filled with unwanted and behavior-ridden older pets couldn't be further from the truth. Plus, pets are resilient. Those who do have behavioral issues often flourish in new loving homes with the help of an animal behaviorist or other pet professional.