Definition

A shelter is a place where are brang animals in distress or about to be, to give them the maximum of chances to live fine again.

A shelter is not a public structure, it is a private place wellcoming animals, charging its services according to its own criteras.

It is however under the power of the law regarding to all sanitary and company aspects.

A Pet Shelter is neither a Garbage Dump, nor a Pound, nor a Clinic, nor a Free-clinic.

By comparison:

Pound:

A shelter is a place where we can bring animals and where we may come to adopt or to get back a pet ;

Pound:

A shelter may refuse to take in charge an animal, or to give him: Animals belong to the shelter ;

Pound:

A shelter is too a place where The Death lives in, but where it appears a bit more lenient: Euthanasia is not systematically applied after the legal delay of 3 days after the entry day ;

Pound:

A shelter may work also in collaboration with municipalities ;

Clinic:

A shelter owns all stuffs of a clinic and vets and may assume all its services, but it concentrate its attention on animals in distress (abandonned, about to be, in critical situation) ;

Clinic:

A shelter may offer Pets Caretakings and have associated shops in its premises ;
It is open for all ;

Free-clinic:

A shelter lavishes free cares to its given animals, it may give others with charges ;

Shelter:

It may settle educationnal areas, play areas, etc...

Missions

Shelter missions are those which its designers defined at start:
It have exactly the same legal structure as a privater society, but, contrarly to it, it does not make profits.

Often a shelter have a House Rule. This is easily understood while thinking about precautions to take to avoid epidemias and maintain sanitary conditions as perfect as possible.

The most serious danger for a shelter is the entry of an epidemic disease which will force to a general euthanasia (it happens).
This disaster is the easiest to induce.

Infrastructure

There is quite as many structures as shelters, however some rules are found quite anywhere:

• The shelter is allways clean ;
• Dogs are taken for a walk in the resort at least two hours each day ;
• Cages are cleaned and disinfected at least once a day and the soiled water drainning system goes in the shelter specific tank where they are treated before flushed outside ;
• The sanitary state of the whole is rigorously followed and controled ;
• Cages dimensions are compliant with law, and it is rare to find shelters having more than a Pet by cage ;
• Cages are sheltered from rain, hard winds, people ;
• They are ventilated, open ;
• They are easy to wash and disinfect (including the tape area and lights) and don't have roughts or angles (where microbes multiply), including their panels not walled up (no meshes: round bars) ;
• Ground is in two levels, separated with a rounded step being more or less 15 cm high (upper side to sleep, lower to move) ;
• Their soil, lightly sloping towards the polluted water collector is paint with a cover easy to clean, but not slipping ;
• There is no clothes in cages: neither blankets, nor towels (it would turn to parasite reservoirs) ;
• Species are not mixed (no cats next to dogs).
  Pets are put together in sectors physically distincts and identified:
  1. Quarantine area ;
  2. sicks area ;
  3. Healthy area ;
  4. Guests area.
  
  Each area is subdivided in:
  • Males just arriving ;
  • Females just arriving ;
  • Pragnant females, or with babies ;
  • Femelles in heat ;
  • Other females ;
  • Other males.
  
   
• Any Pet can see the outside ;
• Cages are conceived to facilitate the upkeepings and to allow awfully safe visits, as for visitors as for visited ;
• The visitor circuit never crosses those of upkeeping and feeding ;
• Pets have a food dietetically controled by veterinarians ;
• The number of daily meals, and quantities are given by the veterinarians ;
• Plates are always clean, and washed as soon as the meal finishes ;
   
• In addition to cages, the shelter have:
  1. Public Reception Room ;
  2. Kitchen ;
  3. Washing area (cleanings, disinfections) ;
  4. Surgery room ;
  5. Incinerator ;
  6. A wide area perfectly fenced with double railings (often 3 m tall) inside which Pets have their walks ;
  7. Human conveniences (garage, warehouse, Welcome Room, Information Room, Shops, Offices, Library, Rooms, Bathroom, Public and Private Toilets, etc...)
• The shelter is permanently guarded, day and night ;
• Appart from the guard, there is a staff to help animals, veterinarians and visitors, and an administrative one too.

Fonctionning

As seen, each shelter have its own House Rule, this being quite compulsory to be able to keep a correct sanitary state.

Also, apart from animals which are on full board, all the others are belonging to the shelter.
Actually, if it is not for a full boarding, to give his animal to a shelter is to give him up for good.

Moreover, no to fetch back a full boarded animal leads the same, without prejudging penalities due by law for the given and not paid services which often go whith this kind of cowardice.

The shelter is perfectly entitled to refuse or to accept
to receive or to give any animal.

All new incommers are subject of a medical examination, are, if needed, cured, identified, vaccinated, spayed/neutered, or eliminated;

Concerning adoption, in a general way, starting from the principle that which is obtained for free have no value for the owner, adoptions are charged and often quite expensive, to warrant the pet to have an owner worthly of the name and able to assume him/her.

All shelter adopted Pets are identified and sterilized.