Looking to adopt a pet? The Humane Society of the United States offers these little known facts about adoption and animal shelters before you start your search.

Best Place to Find a New Best Friend
Animal shelters are your best source when looking for a pet. Not only do they have a great selection of adult animals for adoption, but they also have kittens and puppies, even purebred animals. In fact, on average, purebreds account for about 25 percent to 30 percent of a shelter's dog population.

Dog and Cat Stats
There are approximately 65 million owned dogs in the United States. Eighteen percent were adopted from an animal shelter. There are approximately 77.7 million owned cats in the United States. Sixteen percent of owned cats were adopted from an animal shelter. If more people adopted from shelters, fewer animals would need to be euthanized.

Beyond the Pound...
The animal shelters of today are not the "dog pounds" of yesterday. And animal control officers are not "dog catchers" as they once were labeled. Today, shelters offer a myriad of services including animal rescue, medical care, adoption services, and caregiver services such as behavior counseling. In most communities today, shelters are not gloomy, dreary places. Rather, they are community education centers with sunlit rooms and animal enrichment programs. Shelters come in all shapes and sizes from private non-profits to government agencies to a combination of the two. Contrary to popular belief, your local shelter is not a "branch" of a national organization. Any shelter can call themselves a "humane society" or "SPCA".

Not Just Castoff Animals...
While providing safe haven for animals remains a primary mission, shelters are adding programs designed to help caregivers solve problems, thus keeping animals from losing their homes in the first place. Most animals are given up because of a lack of understanding before the animal is acquired as to the commitment necessary to care for them. Many shelters now offer "puppy parenting" classes to help families understand the realities of companion animal care. They also offer training classes, behavioral counseling, information on pet-friendly rental properties, and even factual information on dealing with allergies.

If You Cannot Adopt—Volunteer
Your local shelter could really use your help. Don't think your shelter needs you? Wrong. Some shelters have highly organized volunteer programs complete with time cards and performance reviews while others have a loosely knit group of individuals who show up to help whenever they can. Either way, they can use your help. From the standard dog walking and cat entertaining to making the shelter an inviting place to visit by planting flowers outside or painting a room, there's definitely something you can do to help. Ask your vet to post pictures of shelter animals in her office, post signs for shelter events in your office cafeteria, hold a dog and cat toy drive at work. It all helps, and to make sure you're giving the shelter what it needs most—ask first!