Dear Editor, 

Foster does indeed save lives.

In the interest of clarifying misperceptions about the reasons for death-by-shelter, let's be clear and blunt: Homeless dogs and cats are euthanized primarily for space due to pet overpopulation and lack of homes.

Behavioral and health exceptions do exist. It’s also true that older animals suffer higher euthanasia rates.

Also of import is the fact that thousands of animals finding their way into open-admission shelters do so often owing to lack of affordable sterilization fees or flooding the canine landscape by for-profit breeders.  

“We’ve got to turn off the spigot,” Jacki Skole shares of foster Becky Moser, in Dogland:  “We can’t rescue ourselves out of this problem. We can’t adopt our way out of the killing.”

County-funded or municipal shelters are required to take in every animal that comes through the door. Often, a resident dog is put down to make room for another.

According to recent stats from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary:

“In 2024, 4.8 million homeless dogs and cats ended up in shelters…There’s not enough space for the homeless pets who need it most…kittens…big dogs who are less likely to be adopted because of pet-restrictive housing and insurance policies…”

Fostering saves lives. It gives an animal breathing room, a chance to be him-or-herself, until the right guardian comes along. But the reason close to a million animals lose their precious lives each year is due to pet overpopulation, not because they’ve done anything to land themselves in the canine pokey.

It’s important not to malign an animal’s reputation and label them as unadoptable (and justifying euthanasia) by virtue of their presence in the shelter. Shelter overpopulation is very much a human problem, not of the animal.

In gratitude,

Denise Boehler

Nederland