i volunteer at an animal shelter.
[{"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": "user", "content": "have you ever adopted an animal from animal shelters? I did, i adopted a chinchilla and a cat"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "You're awesome!I have so much love and respect for people who adopt pets from animal shelters! I have two cats, i picked up one on the street when he was a tiny kitten and I got another cat from craigslist"}, {"role": "user", "content": "very nice of you. you have a big heart. It breaks my heart to see all the animals in the shelter"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "i love no-kill shelters, because they don't euthanize animals that are not claimed quickly enough"}, {"role": "user", "content": "that makes me extremely sad. i'm an animal lover, i would adopt all of them if i could"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "I know, i feel the same way! i've read in many countries in Europe it's permitted the killing of healthy stray dogs"}, {"role": "user", "content": "what??? you would think Europe wouldn't allow that!"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "I know :( in the US a 6 to 8 million animals are brought to shelters each year"}, {"role": "user", "content": "oh gosh, I'm so sad now. That's terrible"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "sorry, didn't mean to ruin your day with these sad facts. some shelters even have sick tropical animals"}]