Animal shelters and wildlife sanctuaries are often confused. Although many sanctuaries have characteristics of animal shelters, they are not the same. Shelters serve a more temporary and more intrusive purpose, while shrines are more permanent and less intrusive.
Animal shelters are designed to temporarily house lost, homeless, or abandoned animals. An example of a shelter is a “kennel”. Shelters often allow people to adopt and retire animals. Some shelters euthanize animals if they are not adopted within a certain period of time. Other shelters adopt a strict no-kill policy. This policy gained momentum in the late 1990s. Shelters rarely have exotic and wild animals like bobcats living there. Most shelters primarily house dogs and cats. In many places, animal control agencies bring animals into shelters.
On the other hand, wildlife sanctuaries provide a permanent residence for animals. More often than not, they house rare and endangered species rather than cats and dogs. For example, the Catty Shack houses in Jacksonville, Florida, threatened bobcats. Sanctuaries try to be as non-intrusive as possible. Although many sanctuaries allow visits, they exercise greater supervision of visitors than refuges and zoos. Although limited research and observation is allowed in the sanctuaries, any testing on animals is usually strictly prohibited. Since the primary purpose of sanctuaries is a safe haven for animals, animal shelters rarely sell, trade, or euthanize their animals. Some wildlife sanctuaries allow adoption. However, adoption at sanctuaries is more closely related to a donation, as animals rarely leave the sanctuary grounds.