Not all animal shelters, humane societies, anti-cruelty or animal welfare leagues have the same goal in mind: animal welfare. Some shelters are "no kill" shelters which could mean "no kill" or "no kill for three days" or "no kill unless we decide the animal is too fill-in-the-blank"; some shelters sell animals to research facilities which house unimaginable torture and cruelty for an innocent cat kitten puppy or dog. I'm including those shelters that claim they are "farms" - they can be just as bad. Think a moment about those bullshit long drawn out expensive aspca commercials on tv with some simpering woman's voice whining for money and poor neglected animals...fucking humane society of america ceo earns $8 million/year...I do go on...sorry.. Some humane societies will keep an animal until it is rescued or adopted; on the other hand- some will euthanize an animal the minute it arrives. Several states- you can check if your state or province is one- still use gas chambers to execute large numbers of dogs and cats, puppies and kittens even though it is well known that this form of killing is unusually cruel and has to be repeated. It is performed by- well, never mind how it's done. Anyway, check that shelter up and down, inside and out before you send some poor little baby animal or your beloved pet you have to get rid of to it. They are not all the same and don't always have an animal's best interest at heart. Now that I think of it- horses, horses too. when and if you can, donate blankets, old towels, bags and cans of pet foods.