National Canine Advocacy Group

06/15/2026

🐾 We ask shelter workers to perform miracles.

Then we criticize them when miracles aren't possible.

🏠 Shelters are often expected to solve the consequences of housing shortages, unaffordable veterinary care, behavioral challenges, irresponsible breeding, and economic hardship.

💔 No shelter can solve those problems alone.

➡️ The path forward isn't asking shelters to do more.

✅ It's creating fewer crises for them to manage in the first place.

The problem isn't the shelters. It's why they're full.

💬 What are your thoughts? What do you think are the biggest challenges facing shelters today? Share your perspective in the comments.

06/11/2026

This article gets to the heart of something we've been talking about for a long time:

The problem isn't the shelters.

Shelters, rescues, fosters, and volunteers are working harder than ever. They're doing everything they can to help dogs already in crisis.

The question we should be asking is:

**Why are so many dogs ending up there in the first place?**

Housing barriers. Rising veterinary costs. Lack of behavior support. Unplanned litters. Limited access to spay/neuter services. Economic hardship. These are the issues filling shelters long before a dog ever walks through a shelter door.

If we want fewer dogs in shelters, we have to start working upstream.

That doesn't mean we stop supporting shelters. It means we support them by reducing the number of dogs that need them in the first place.

Prevention isn't as visible as adoption events or rescue transports.
But prevention is how we create lasting change.

Here is the truth that the animal welfare sector has been slow to say out loud: We will never adopt our way out of this…

05/29/2026

🚨 NEW EPISODE: THE BROKEN LEASH 🚨

Open Admission. Limited Admission. No-Kill. Socially Conscious Sheltering.

These terms are used constantly in animal welfare discussions, but many people don't fully understand what they mean—or how they affect animals, shelters, and communities.

In Episode 3 of The Broken Leash, I sit down with Melanie Sobel to discuss different sheltering models, the realities shelters face, and why understanding the system matters if we want to create meaningful change.

Shelters provide a critical downstream safety net for animals in need. But if we truly want to reduce shelter overcrowding, euthanasia, and rescue burnout, we also have to focus upstream on the root causes that bring animals into the system in the first place.

Watch now and join the conversation.

📺 Full episode: https://youtu.be/48bMira9rss

What sheltering model do you think is most misunderstood?

05/26/2026

🚨 TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO COMMENT 🚨

Puppy mills and irresponsible online breeders are counting on people staying silent.

Meanwhile, shelters, rescues, taxpayers, and communities are left dealing with the consequences:
sick puppies, abandoned dogs, overcrowded shelters, rescue burnout, and preventable euthanasia.

The FTC is reviewing online animal sales and public comments MATTER.

If you care about animal welfare, ethical breeding, shelters, rescues, or stopping puppy mills from profiting online — PLEASE comment today.

It takes about 2 minutes.

📢 Link to comment:
federalregister.gov/d/2026-07997

Sample FTC comment is below.
Copy, paste, personalize slightly, and submit.

Please comment.
Please share.
Do not let the people profiting from animal suffering be the loudest voices in the room.

05/25/2026

This is required reading for anyone trying to change the plight of dogs everywhere. The system is broken, and this article explains how and why. It also points us in the direction of change. In the direction of making lives better for dogs and the humans that love them.

The shelter crisis isn’t just about overcrowding—it’s about a system designed to fail. Restrictive adoptions, pet-unfriendly housing policies, uncontrolled breeding, and the myth that "love fixes everything" are killing animals while shelters scramble to keep up. We cannot adopt our way out of...

05/18/2026

🐶 When people can’t afford veterinary care, the consequences don’t stop at the clinic door.

Families are being forced to make heartbreaking decisions — including surrendering dogs they love because treatment has become financially impossible. 💔

🩺 In Episode #2 of The Broken Leash, we talk with Dr. Susan Miller, DVM, who runs the only nonprofit animal hospital in the country. Mission Animal Hospital provides layers of care and support that go far beyond what most people experience at a traditional veterinary clinic.

📈 In this conversation, we discuss the growing crisis of veterinary affordability and why this upstream issue is affecting shelters, rescues, public resources, and dogs across the country.
This conversation matters.

🎥 Watch a short clip here — then head to YouTube for the full Episode #2 of The Broken Leash. https://youtu.be/5-lU-LzvItY

04/07/2026

ARE STRAYS PSEUDO-SURRENDERS?

Nationally, only 20–30% of stray dogs entering shelters are ever reunited with their owners.

In Colorado, that number has historically been higher than the national average, thanks to strong return-to-owner programs, community outreach, and access to free or low-cost microchipping.
But even here, the trend is moving in the wrong direction. The return-to-owner rate is steadily declining, leading us to question why so many dogs go unclaimed - and whether they were ever truly “lost” in the first place.

📉 In 2019, 74% of stray dogs entering Colorado shelters were reclaimed by their owners.
📉 By 2024, that number dropped to less than two-thirds.

This growing gap has led us to ask: Are strays really lost? Or are they being quietly surrendered - without the paperwork?

We use the term "pseudo-surrender" to describe stray dogs that appear to have been intentionally allowed to wander or abandoned in hopes that someone else - usually a shelter - will take responsibility.

And when you look at the reasons dogs go unclaimed, the pattern becomes clear.
________________________________________
Why Strays Go Unclaimed

🔍 Lack of Identification
• No collar, tags, or microchip
• Outdated microchip contact info
📍 Lack of Awareness
• Owners don’t realize their dog is in a shelter
• They search the wrong facility—good Samaritans often take dogs to shelters near them, not near where the dog went missing
🚫 Owner Apathy or Avoidance
• Some owners allow dogs to stray and never intend to reclaim them
• Others use “stray drop-off” to avoid the cost, paperwork, or guilt of formal surrender
💰 Financial Barriers
• Reclaim fees, fines, or proof of veterinary care can be out of reach for some families
🧭 Access and Transportation Issues
• Some lack reliable transportation or can’t reach the shelter during open hours
🫣 Fear of Consequences
• Owners may fear being cited for neglect, licensing violations, or lack of vaccinations
• Undocumented individuals may avoid contact with authorities entirely
💔 Changed Life Circumstances
• Eviction, illness, job loss, or death in the family can prevent reclaim
________________________________________

While the reasons vary, the result is the same: Shelters are left to care for dogs that, in many cases, were never truly lost. These dogs sit through mandatory hold periods (five days in Colorado) while shelter space, staff, and resources are stretched thin.

When dogs are surrendered directly, shelters gain critical information - health history, behavior insights, even a name - which helps place the dog in a safe, appropriate home more quickly.
________________________________________

🗣️ The Takeaway:
If you can no longer care for your dog, surrendering responsibly is the humane and honest path.
✔️ Use ID tags and microchips
✔️ Keep contact info current
✔️ Never assume someone else will “take care of it”
✔️ If you must give up your dog, do so directly - don’t make them a stray

03/24/2026

Colorado HB 26-1011 is being sold as a way to stop puppy mills.

But it only goes after pet stores — and ignores the fact that some "rescues" are getting dogs from the same places.

That doesn’t make sense.

If the goal is to stop puppy mills, you don’t target one path and ignore another.

Some "rescues" are bringing in large numbers of dogs from puppy mills and brokers and out of state — including about 400 puppies in one year by just two rescues from a single broker, and 700+ dogs per year by one large organization whose model is built on sourcing dogs from breeders, some of whom are undoubtedly puppy mills.

And overall, more than 18,000 dogs were brought into Colorado by rescues and shelters in 2024.

Even a fraction coming from mills would rival — or exceed — pet store numbers.

The bottom line: Puppy mill sourcing isn’t limited to pet stores.

So what happens?

Shut down one channel… the dogs just come through another.

That’s not solving the problem. That’s shifting it.

If we’re serious about this, the standard should be the same across the board.

The Colorado House and Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee passed this bill blindly, following party lines. It now goes before the full Senate.

This bad bill is likely going to pass. What's next? Probably a lawsuit against the State by pet stores.