"Dog Pound" redirects here. For the rap group, see Tha Dogg Pound. For the Cleveland Browns cheering section, see Dawg Pound. Dog at a no-kill animal shelter in Washington, Iowa An animal shelter is a facility that houses homeless, lost or abandoned animals; primarily a large variety of dogs and cats. The animal is kept at the shelter until it is either reclaimed by an owner, adopted to a new owner or placed with another organization. In the past, they were more commonly referred to as "dog pounds", a term which had its origins in the pounds of agricultural communities, where stray cattle would be penned up until claimed by their owners. Some animal shelters humanely euthanize animals that are not adopted within a set period of time, others have a policy of only putting down animals that are in distress due to age or illness. Contents 1 Types of shelters 1.1 Animal control agency 1.2 No-kill shelter 1.3 Animal sanctuary 1.4