Animal shelters serve as crucial havens for homeless, abandoned, and mistreated animals. However, many shelters are facing extreme public, political, and activist pressure to resist euthanasia under any circumstance, leading to severe overcrowding in their facilities with detrimental effects for the animals, staff, volunteers, and adopters.
Alarmingly, some animal shelters have chosen to rely on temporary crates or other unsuitable means for long-term animal housing. While crates can offer short-term solutions for safety and containment, prolonged crating violates the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare and must not be used as a routine housing practice.
The Five Freedoms, developed by the UK’s Farm Animal Welfare Council in 1965, are the internationally recognized gold standard to ensure the well-being of animals in all situations, including animal shelters. They have been adopted by the World Organization for Animal Health, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and countless more animal welfare organizations. The Five Freedoms declare what conditions animals should experience while under human care and should always be followed regardless of public pressure that would result in the violation of their principles.
What Are the Five Freedoms?
Freedom from hunger and thirst: Providing access to fresh water and a diet that maintains full health and vigor.
Freedom from discomfort: Ensuring an appropriate environment, including shelter and a comfortable resting area.
Freedom from pain, injury, or disease: Ensuring proper veterinary care by prevention, rapid diagnosis, and treatment.
Freedom to express normal behavior: Providing sufficient space, proper facilities, and the company of the animal’s own kind.
Freedom from fear and distress: Ensuring conditions and treatment that avoid mental suffering.
Applying the Five Freedoms in Animal Shelters
Overcrowded shelters cannot meet the Five Freedoms. Limited space, overworked staff, and insufficient resources can threaten the animals’ well-being. Each freedom can be impacted by overcrowding and it’s critical to prioritize these standards, even under difficult circumstances. Here’s how the Five Freedoms are diminished when animal shelter populations are not properly managed:
Freedom from Hunger and Thirst
In overcrowded shelters, ensuring that all animals have access to enough food and fresh water can be challenging. When space is limited, animals may compete for resources,
which can lead to unequal access, hunger, thirst, malnutrition, and dehydration. Overcrowded environments may tax limited staff, delaying feeding schedules and the ability to maintain fresh drinking water. Dogs forced to share kennels may fight over or defend the food and water sources, denying others the opportunity for sustenance. Dogs forced to live in crates easily spill their food and water or contaminate it with their own waste, making it unhealthy and unusable.
Freedom from Discomfort
Overcrowding often means that animals must share tight spaces, which can make it difficult to maintain comfortable, clean, living conditions. Without enough space, bedding, and appropriate shelter, animals can become physically uncomfortable, increasing their stress and vulnerability to illness. Temperature control, ventilation, and hygiene also become harder to manage in an overcrowded environment. Routine confinement in a crate creates muscle atrophy and joint stiffness and can cause skin sores from being kept in a very restricted position.
Freedom from Pain, Injury, or Disease
Increased numbers of animals in close quarters can accelerate the spread of contagious diseases and make it harder for staff to spot individual injuries or illnesses. Disease outbreaks are common. Medical resources can be stretched thin, and animals may not receive the immediate care they need when shelters exceed their capacity for care. The stress of being confined to a crate 24/7 with only occasional brief respites further compromises their ability to fight off illness. Dogs confined to crates often urinate or defecate in their crates; long term housing like this causes skin ulcerations and infections.
Freedom to Express Normal Behavior
Overcrowding can severely limit an animal’s ability to express normal behaviors. Dogs and cats may not have enough space to exercise, play, or interact with others. They may be confined to small enclosures with little to no stimulation, leading to frustration, boredom, and behavioral problems such as aggression or depression. Crating a dog full-time, especially in a shelter where they are already experiencing stress and confusion, can exacerbate feelings of isolation, fear, and anxiety. They need to be able to self-exercise in a dog kennel run, stretch, lay down fully, jump, and sit comfortably.
Freedom from Fear and Distress
A noisy, cramped shelter can be a highly stressful environment for animals, particularly those already traumatized from abandonment or abuse. Crowded conditions exacerbate stress, increasing anxiety and fear. Prolonged exposure to such conditions can severely impact the mental well-being of animals. Dogs confined to crates can develop behavioral issues such as aggression, excessive barking, or obsessive-compulsive tendencies like pacing, self-mutilation, or chewing on the crate. The lack of mental stimulation in a confined space can contribute to emotional distress. Dogs need enrichment activities, human interaction, and opportunities to play and explore to remain mentally healthy. Without these, they can become depressed, withdrawn, or display signs of severe stress.
Shelters that rely on full-time crating may inadvertently reduce the adoptability of their dogs. Potential adopters are often looking for dogs that are social, well-adjusted, and able to integrate smoothly into their homes. Dogs that have been crated for extended periods may appear anxious, fearful, or even aggressive when potential adopters visit. This can create a false impression of the dog’s true personality, reducing their chances of being adopted
Don’t Forget Why We’re Here
Animal shelters exist to provide safe and humane refuge for animals. The Five Freedoms should remain at the heart of all decision-making processes for animal population management. Shelters need to be realistic and compassionate in their approach to managing their animal populations with available resources, but meeting the animals’ fundamental needs for safety, health, and well-being is paramount.
The Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare are more than just principles—they are a moral obligation to ensure that all animals, no matter the situation, receive the care and respect they deserve. Overcrowding in shelters presents significant challenges but with courageous decision making and keeping the animals’ well-being as the top priority, shelter leaders can uphold these essential freedoms and provide animals with a humane and nurturing environment even in difficult times. The animals deserve no less.
Marcia Mayeda
You can subscribe to Marcia’s blog here: https://animalcare.lacounty.gov/directors_blog/The Los Angeles County Animal Care Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)3 charity that raises money to support DACC in its mission of saving animals and keeping pets and families together. Learn more at www.lacountyanimals.org.
