What is an open admission shelter?DuPage County Animal Services (DCAS) is the only open admission shelter in the western suburbs. This means that no animal that is brought through the shelter’s doors is ever turned away.
Sometimes DuPage County Animal Services is wrongly stereotyped as “The Pound” where animals enter and never leave. The reality is that unlike most shelters and rescue groups, DCAS is required by law to take in all animals regardless of their species, temperament and medical condition. As a result, there are times that the DCAS staff is forced to make the difficult decision to humanely euthanize the diseased, injured, neglected and dangerous animals. |
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We at DuPage Animal Friends, together with the staff at DCAS, work diligently to see a day when every pet has a home.
Although it is never an easy decision to euthanize, it is DCAS’s position that euthanasia is more humane than the prospect of a long painful life as a stray or abandoned animal with a painful injury or chronic disease, or living permanently caged.
DCAS provides holding times for stray animals. This is the time allotted for owners to reclaim their pets, not the time between intake and death. After seven days, the shelter staff begin the process of temperament testing for aggression and spaying or neutering. Upon completion, the animals are available for adoption or transferred to one of many rescue partners.
To combat the problem of pet overpopulation that contributes to animals in shelters, DCAS implements a strong spay/neuter & micro-chipping program for dogs, cats and domestic rabbits. To complement the government mandated Animal Control duties, DCAS partners with local shelters and breed specific rescue groups, and provides public outreach and education programs.
As spay/neuter programs effectiveness increases, animal welfare legislation grows, and humane education spreads, we will continue to see a decline in unwanted and abandoned animals. As a result, there will be a decline in the need for euthanasia.
We at DuPage Animal Friends, together with the staff at DCAS, work diligently to see a day when every pet has a home.
DCAS provides holding times for stray animals. This is the time allotted for owners to reclaim their pets, not the time between intake and death. After seven days, the shelter staff begin the process of temperament testing for aggression and spaying or neutering. Upon completion, the animals are available for adoption or transferred to one of many rescue partners.
To combat the problem of pet overpopulation that contributes to animals in shelters, DCAS implements a strong spay/neuter & micro-chipping program for dogs, cats and domestic rabbits. To complement the government mandated Animal Control duties, DCAS partners with local shelters and breed specific rescue groups, and provides public outreach and education programs.
As spay/neuter programs effectiveness increases, animal welfare legislation grows, and humane education spreads, we will continue to see a decline in unwanted and abandoned animals. As a result, there will be a decline in the need for euthanasia.
We at DuPage Animal Friends, together with the staff at DCAS, work diligently to see a day when every pet has a home.