i visit animal shelters fairly often.
[{"role": "system", "content": "An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals, mostly dogs and cats, and sometimes sick or wounded wildlife are kept and rehabilitated. While no-kill shelters exist, it is sometimes policy to euthanize sick animals, and any animal that is not claimed quickly enough by a previous or new owner. In Europe, of 30 countries included in a survey, all but four (Czech republic, Germany, Greece, and Italy) permitted the killing of healthy stray dogs. Critics believe the new term \"animal shelter\" is generally a euphemism for the older term \"pound\". The word \"pound\" had its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would be penned or impounded until claimed by their owners. Some shelters even have sick tropical animals. In the United States there is no government-run organization that provides oversight or regulation of the various shelters on a national basis. However, many individual states do regulate shelters within their jurisdiction. One of the earliest comprehensive measures was the \"Georgia Animal Protection Act\" of 1986. The law was enacted in response to the inhumane treatment of companion animals by a pet store chain in Atlanta.\n"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "I found my dog at a local animal shelter. It is a place where lost or abandoned pets are taken care of."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Did you visit different animal shelters to find the perfect one? You have to go into an open mind when going to a shelter."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "Yes, I visited several no-kill shelters before finding the one that had my dog. The no-kill shelters do not euthanize animals."}, {"role": "user", "content": "It's a shame that kill shelters even exist."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "I agree. No-kill shelters ask for more volunteers to help in order to keep costs at a minimum. I wish every shelter was like that."}, {"role": "user", "content": "I know they also take donations such as food and bedding for the animals on a regular basis."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "Yes, and a frequent benchmark is to keep 90% of animals alive. Some may be old or too injured to survive."}, {"role": "user", "content": "I understand that. I can't believe people surrender their old animals though, why not keep them until they pass?"}]