animal shelter

[ an-uh-muhl shel-ter ]

noun

1. an establishment, maintained by local government or supported by charitable contributions, that provides a temporary home for dogs, cats, and other animals that are offered for adoption, and puts to sleep homeless animals that have been deemed unsuitable for adoption:

   The animal shelter is requesting donations of old towels, blankets, and other linens.

Word History and Origins

Origin of animal shelter¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Pets will also go through a shift when offices reopenSo many people adopted pets during the pandemic that at one point animal shelters were running out of dogs.

From Digiday

While most Americans may associate the idea of animal shelter with adopting a pet cat or dog, the first such places tended to involve horses, with activists focused on the welfare of animals who were a key mode of transportation.

From Time

Many local animal shelters and rescues get animals from crowded facilities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas, Georgia and Mississippi.

From Washington Post

They left their contact information with as many people as they could and visited the local animal shelter in the hopes that Abby might have been brought there.

From Washington Post

I’d like to urge everyone to check out your animal shelters before you spend hundreds of dollars on a registered breed.

From Washington Post

Visit an animal shelter, pick out the sorriest mutt you can find, and then put it down.

From The Daily Beast

She has answered it by starting a rescue animal shelter for the townships surrounding Cape Town.

From The Daily Beast

To qualify as a no-kill shelter, the animal shelter must: maintain a 90% or better live release rate.

From The Daily Beast

Elizabeth Hess is the author of Lost and Found: Dogs, Cats and Everyday Heroes at a Country Animal Shelter.

From The Daily Beast