History Main / PoundsAreDoggyPrison

%%Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1310228336085682600
%%Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
[[quoteright:350:[[{{Bolt}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mittens_bolt_pound_7109.jpg]]]]

One trope that's sure to rub animal-shelter volunteers the wrong way is the [[SeenItAMillionTimes frequently]] antagonistic portrayal of animal shelters in fiction.

This is especially the case with TalkingAnimal cartoons, where pounds are depicted as little more than prisons full of animal inmates "serving time" for some alleged misdemeanor offense and hoping to one day see the warm sun and blue skies again. In extreme cases, depictions may even echo [[WorldWarTwo Nazi concentration camps]] with diabolical dog-catchers deliberately hunting down and impounding household pets by the hundreds (as one New York City pound became infamous for during the 1800's) to be "[[ReleasedToElsewhere put to sleep]]", never to see their beloved family again unless they immediately stage some kind of [[GreatEscape daring jailbreak]].

Now while it is true that animal-control officers may impound problematic or aggressive animals when responding to an emergency call, and that not enough lost pets at animal shelters get reunited with their families, modern (RealLife) animal-control facilities and shelters are nowhere '''near''' the depraved standards that fiction likes to depict them with. Animal shelters know firsthand how deeply pets become family members, and have a vested interest in providing their animals with a regular supply of food, shelter, health care, and companionship -- doubly so for "rescue" shelters who specialize in rehabilitating victims of neglect or abuse by previous human owners.

Fortunately becoming a DiscreditedTrope with animal-rights groups (not the AnimalWrongsGroup) making the plight of abandoned and abused animals more well-known, though it may have originated from the ForgottenTrope of the Diabolical Dogcatcher (especially in areas where pet ownership requires an official license).

A particularly strange variation can occur with zoos and/or ''wildlife'' rehabilitation centers, who work with non-domestic animals that (for whatever reason) might not survive in the wild; they too have a vested interest in their animals' health and upkeep.

Probably related to the [[PlayingWithSyringes Sadistic Science Lab]] and [[TheydCutYouUp the fear of winding up there]], and the OrphanageOfFear.

----
!!Examples

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''HotelForDogs''. "At least it's better than the pound." Also presents pound workers gloating about euthanising dogs after a day, just to drive the point home.
* ''The Shaggy D.A.'' had a dog pound scene, presented very like a prison, where he escaped with the help of the other dogs.
* In the movie ''[[HomewardBoundTheIncredibleJourney Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey]]'', the animal shelter is initially portrayed like this -- but only from the animals' point of view, as it's revealed that [[spoiler: the shelter was trying to contact their owners, and had the animals ''not'' escaped they would have been reunited sooner.]] They also removed the porcupine quills lodged in Chance's face. Chance himself was rescued from a pound by his owner, which probably explains his severe hatred of "that bad place".
* The 1995 movie ''Fluke'' not only has a Prison Pound, it also has an Evil Research Lab. And did we mention that the titular dog is a reincarnated ''human''?
* MouseHunt had the [[WorldWarTwo doggy concentration camp]] variety. And yes, we see a kitten getting gassed for absolutely no reason.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Jennifer Crusie's novella ''Anyone But You'' begins with the protagonist, Nina, going to the pound to adopt a dog and ending up rescuing a dog who was on his last day before euthanization.
* In the book ''Dog,'' the titular dog leaves the dumpster he grew up in and ends up captured by the dogcatcher and thrown into a van with other dogs. He befriends Shep, a big, white, shaggy dog, learns that after only three days where strays are not picked up by their owners or adoped, they are put down. His group of dogs are put into cages and spend two days there. The other dogs shout, some claiming to be pets and wanting to know what they did to deserve their fates. Dog is adopted. Cruelly, other dogs are not as lucky.
* In the same vein as this trope, one of the books by Kenneth and Adrian Bird about the talking dog called Himself had his owner leave him at a dog hostel while he went on holiday. The dogs there are cruelly treated by the couple running the business, so Himself ends up leading a revolt.
* Parodied in the children's book ''Dear Mrs. [=LaRue=]: Letters from Obedience School'', by Mark Teague. A dog who pulls on his owners leash too much gets sent to obedience school. He writes letters to her about how much of a prison it was, when in reality it was a luxury. He made it seem like he ran away from it too, while he actually was just released and everyone ''in town'' was overjoyed to see him when he came back.

[[AC:{{Live-Action TV}}]]
* An early episode of ''EerieIndiana'' involved a dog pound, and a boy whose dental bracers could detect (and translate) the dogs' language. It was implied that an ominous room at the end of the hall was where they put dogs to sleep, and the dogs were organizing some kind of rebellion.
* In ''MarriedWithChildren'', when Buck runs away and ends up in the pound, it's very prison-ish, complete with harmonica-playing pooch and a "religious" pup ready to administer the last rites.
* In an episode of ''{{Wishbone}}'', Wishbone is placed in the pound after having been found without his collar. He initially views it like this, but then he falls in love with a female dog there. At this point, his owner shows up and provides an UnwantedRescue.

[[AC:{{Newspaper Comics}}]]
* Averted in a ''{{Scamp}}'' comic where after spending an entire day trying to find a place to cool off on a hot summer day, Scamp gets sent to the pound, where the dogs there have built an escape tunnel ([[ContinuityNod which appears to be the same one they were working on in the movie]]), but stay anyways because it is nice and cool inside.
* In the ''{{Dilbert}}'' comic strip, Dogbert was once sent to the pound and used his OnePhoneCall to call a wrecking company to destroy it.
* ''The Dogs of C Kennel'' by Mick and and Mason Mastroianni is pretty much this.
* The title character of ''{{Opus}}'' was imprisoned in the local dog pound at one point. It was PlayedForLaughs, with the storyline spoofing various PrisonTropes (and the inmates' reaction to a ''penguin'' in their midst). He was released after a short time, once his owner paid his fine.
** See ''BloomCounty''.

[[AC:{{Toys}}]]
* Along the same lines is Pick-A-Dilly Pet Shop for the [[PurrTenders Purr-Tenders]]. The cats there aren't being sold, so they wind up disguising themselves as other animals just to get out, and they're all ''terrified'' of being taken back... even though there's no evidence that they're being ignored or mistreated by the owner. (His ''dog'', on the other hand, is a dick.)

[[AC:{{Web Comics}}]]
* In the WebComic ''SkinHorse'', the "Wild Things" StoryArc. Talking dog Sweetheart [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/series.php?view=archive&chapter=31156 ends up in custody]] after attempting to get in touch with her wild side and go on a rampage [[spoiler: by brazenly defying a "Keep off the grass" sign and actually ''spilling coffee'' on someone's lawn]]. Oh, the caninity.

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* ''LadyAndTheTramp''. "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Lady herself has a license and is quickly returned to her owners, while Tramp is caught by the dog-catchers (but later adopted by Lady's family as well). Interestingly, the dogcatchers aren't really demonized or set up as villains; they're just people doing their jobs. Though the dogs are shown to be absolutely miserable, as they try to dig out and escape.
** There is the haunting scene where one dog is taken out, to be executed.
* ''RenAndStimpy'', the pilot episode "Big House Blues".
* We hate to bring up such a notorious [[NightmareFuel childhood]] [[TearJerker destroying]] moment, but the first ''{{Garfield}}'' animated special ''Here Comes Garfield'' has him and Odie trapped and alone in such a pound.
** A bumbling Animal Control officer is a regular antagonist in ''TheGarfieldShow''
* After being falsely accused of attacking Beebee Bluff (when he was just trying to rescue her from falling in thin ice), Porkchop of ''{{Doug}}'' is confiscated by the pound and sentenced to 'execution'. The entire matter is played out as if he's actually in a maximum security prison.
* In ''{{Bolt}}'', the titular dog and cat Mittens are captured by an animal-control officer after an argument between them caused a scene. Bolt is rescued by Rhino en route to the shelter, but Mittens is impounded and fears she will never leave (as nobody will want to adopt her, [[spoiler: an abandoned, declawed housecat]]). Bolt then decides to break Mittens out that night with Rhino's help, which they do. The shelter itself is quite clean, and a banner in the entryway is briefly seen promoting a "Pet Adoption Week".
* On ''RockosModernLife'', Rocko gets [[IAmNotWeasel mistaken for a dog]] and is put on the pound. Appalled by the deplorable conditions, he decides to run for city dog catcher. He loses, but the city simultaneously votes in a more liberal animal control policy, and the role of dogcatcher (won by Mr. Bighead) is reduced to "glorified pooper scooper".
* The pilot for ''PoundPuppies'' had the dogs run a secret adoption network from the pound, a la ''HogansHeroes''. Naturally, comparing the pound to a Nazi stalag didn't suit the networks, so for the series proper it became a benevolent animal shelter. The evil Katrina Stoneheart wants nothing more than to see all canines rounded up, but Holly knows better, and helps the resident canines see every lost dog given to a better home.
** Its second season, "The All-New Pound Puppies Show", returned to the original themes with the pound being run strictly by Katrina instead of Holly.
* Since Brian on ''FamilyGuy'' is more human-like than dog, when he winds up in the Pound, this happens. Along with a violent cell mate.
* Rita and Runt of ''{{Animaniacs}}'' meet when both are taken to the pound and speak to each other through the walls to plan an escape, and it's portrayed very much like a prison.
* ''AllDogsGoToHeaven'' starts with Charlie breaking out of a dog pound, the whole sequence of which is treated like a typical jailbreak scene. In the next scene, another dog comments on Charlie's return with "Ain't you supposed to be on Death Row?"
* Dan has this view of animal shelters in an episode of ''DanVs''
-->"I didn't ask you to build an animal jail across the street. Shut your prisoners up, warden!"

[[AC:{{Real Life}}]]
* RealLife animal-welfare services have a mixed relationship with this trope. On the one hand, they don't want people to compulsively hoard pets for fear that they'll be euthanized if Animal Control ever finds out about them. On the other, they don't hesitate to milk [[TearJerker the tragedy of shelters]] to encourage adoptions, spaying/neutering, and/or donations.
** Hell, [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel puppy mills]] make Doggy Prison [[ItGotWorse look like Club Med]].
*** Not to mention the less-known but equally horrific "Parrot Farms". Talk about HighOctaneNightmareFuel. Imagine the Puppy Mill breeding practices ([[AndIMustScream tiny cages, never getting to see the sun, bred like chickens]]) applied to animals that, unlike dogs, mate for life, breed once a year if that, and have been determined time and again to be at least as intelligent as dolphins.
----
<<|AnimalTropes|>>

This is especially the case with TalkingAnimal cartoons, where pounds are depicted as little more than prisons full of animal inmates "serving time" for some alleged misdemeanor offense and hoping to one day see the warm sun and blue skies again. In extreme cases, depictions may even echo [[WorldWarTwo Nazi concentration camps]] with diabolical dog-catchers deliberately hunting down and impounding household pets by the hundreds (as one New York City pound became infamous for during the 1800's) to be "[[ReleasedToElsewhere put to sleep]]", never to see their beloved family again unless they immediately stage some kind of [[TheGreatEscape daring jailbreak]].

This is especially the case with TalkingAnimal cartoons, where pounds are depicted as little more than prisons full of animal inmates "serving time" for some alleged misdemeanor offense and hoping to one day see the warm sun and blue skies again. In extreme cases, depictions may even echo [[WorldWarTwo Nazi concentration camps]] with diabolical dog-catchers deliberately hunting down and impounding household pets by the hundreds (as one New York City pound became infamous for during the 1800's) to be "[[ReleasedToElsewhere put to sleep]]", never to see their beloved family again unless they immediately stage some kind of daring jailbreak.

This is especially the case with TalkingAnimal cartoons, where pounds are depicted as little more than prisons full of animal inmates "serving time" for some alleged misdemeanor offense and hoping to one day see the warm sun and blue skies again. In extreme cases, depictions may even echo [[WorldWarTwo Nazi concentration camps]] with diabolical dog-catchers deliberately hunting down and impounding household pets for literally no reason, and whose fate is either to stage a daring jailbreak as soon as possible, or risk being eventually "[[ReleasedToElsewhere put to sleep]]" and never see their beloved family again.

Now, dear readers, we ''really'' hope you notice that this fictional portrayal of pounds is just that -- '''fiction''' -- and that modern, RealLife animal-control facilities are nowhere ''near'' the depraved standards that such cartoons depict them with. That being said, it's unfortunately true that animal-control officers do respond to emergency calls to apprehend problematic or aggressive animals, and that only a minority of lost pets turned in to animal shelters are successfully reunited with their owners -- meaning the rest might never leave alive. But, having said ''that'', modern pounds do '''not''' deliberately [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman round up and slaughter animals by the hundreds]] (as the New York City dog pound was notorious for in the 1800's -- that was two hundred years ago!).

Still, this trope doesn't sit well with volunteers who run animal shelters, especially "rescue" shelters that specialize in healing and rehabilitating the victims of neglect or abuse by human owners; animal shelters have a vested interest in preserving the well-being of the animals in their care, which means providing them with a regular supply of food, shelter, health care, and companionship so that they can be adopted into a new family.

Fortunately becoming a DiscreditedTrope as the plight of abandoned and abused animals becomes more well-known, though it may have originated from the ForgottenTrope of the Diabolical Dogcatcher (especially in areas where pet ownership requires a license).

* ''LadyAndTheTramp''. "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Lady herself has a license and is quickly returned to her owners, while Tramp is caught by the dog-catchers (but later adopted by Lady's family as well). Interestingly, the dogcatchers aren't really demonized or set up as villains; they're just people doing their jobs.

* The pilot for ''PoundPuppies'' had the dogs run a secret adoption network from the pound a la ''HogansHeroes''. Naturally, comparing the pound to a Nazi stalag didn't suit the networks, so for the series proper it became a benevolent animal shelter. The evil aunt fits the role of a diabolical dog-catcher who wants nothing more than to round up the canine rascals, but the heir to the pound knows better, and with the resident dogs helps to see every lost canine adopted into a new home.
** And then went back to the original concept in "The All-New Pound Puppies Show" season.
* Since Brian on ''FamilyGuy'' is more human like than dog, when he winds up in the Pound, this happens. Along with a violent cell mate.

* The pilot of ''EerieIndiana'' involved a dog pound, and a boy whose dental bracers could detect (and translate) the dogs' language. It was implied that an ominous room at the end of the hall was where they put dogs to sleep, and the dogs were organizing some kind of rebellion.

* When [[MarriedWithChildren Buck]] runs away and ends up in the pound, it's very prison-ish, complete with harmonica-playing pooch and a "religious" pup ready to administer the last rites.

* ''LadyAndTheTramp''. "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Interestingly, the dogcatchers aren't really demonized or set up as villains, but as people just doing their jobs.

[[BigFriendlyDog Old Shep]], the local stray dog lives a life of total freedom. He can visit everyone in the neighborhood who will feed him a good meal each night. He can chase squirrels in the park all day, and he sleeps in a cozy trash can. Life, for Old Shep, is good.

Then one day, a mean old lady calls Animal Control about him and Old Shep suddenly finds himself on the run from [[{{Determinator}} the vicious, unstoppable dogcatcher]]. Once the dogcatcher gets Shep in his giant net, he tosses him in the back of a truck with other dogs, who are all sent to ([[{{Sting}} dun dun DUN]]) '''THE POUND'''.

Poor Old Shep spends the night in a smelly, damp concrete prison with no food or water and tough-looking street dogs snarling at him. Unless Shep can stage a daring breakout, he'll be dragged out and [[ReleasedToElsewhere put to sleep]] the very next day!

You've SeenItAMillionTimes in TalkingAnimal cartoons. The reasoning seems to be that since humans are invariably opposed to any form of imprisonment, dogs must react the exact same way. Going to the pound must therefore be a violation of freedom and akin to jail for animals.

We really, ''really'' hope, dear readers, that you know that this common fictional portrayal of animal shelters is, at the very least, somewhat inaccurate. Animal control facilities are not nearly as terrible as portrayed in these cartoons. That said, the vast majority of animals to enter them do not leave alive. ''That'' said, modern animal control facilities also no longer tend to [[WhatMeasureIsANonhuman round up and drown dogs by the hundreds]] (the New York City dog pound of the 1800's was notorious for drowning dogs in the Hudson River).

Still, this trope doesn't sit well, especially with animal shelter volunteers. There's also the uncomfortable fact that we are apparently not supposed to ask, upon seeing such a fictional pound, how an abandoned or at-risk '''domestic animal''' is expected to be happier without shelter, companionship, a regular supply of food, and health care.

Fortunately becoming a DiscreditedTrope as the plight of abandoned animals is becoming more and more known. May be an outgrowth of the ForgottenTrope of the dogcatcher as the jerk who takes your family pet because you can't afford a license. Especially strange when applied to zoos and/or wildlife rehabilitation centers (for the most part modern real life examples of both are pointedly populated with animals who for various reasons would never survive in the wild). Probably related to the [[PlayingWithSyringes Sadistic Science Lab]] and [[TheydCutYouUp the fear of winding up there]].

Basically a doggy version of the OrphanageOfFear.

* In the movie ''[[HomewardBoundTheIncredibleJourney Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey]]'', the animal shelter is initially portrayed like this -- but it's subverted once we switch from the animals' point of view to the humans'. [[spoiler:The animals escape because they want to get back to their owners, not knowing that they would have been reunited ''sooner'' if they had stayed at the shelter and waited for the owner to pick them up.]] (This was the first time this editor remembers being pissed off by dramatic irony.)
** They were also nice enough to remove the porcupine quills from Chance's face, which he interpreted as a form of torture. Partly because he didn't know any better, and it does hurt, and partly because he was rescued from the pound by his owner, and has a severe hatred of the pound, which he refers throughout the series as "the bad place".

* ''{{Bolt}}'' has the titular dog and hamster Rhino trying to bust out cat Mittens from a pound where the dog-catchers have pepper-spray.

* The pilot for ''PoundPuppies'' had the dogs run a secret adoption network from the pound a la ''HogansHeroes''. Naturally, comparing the pound to a Nazi stalag didn't suit the networks, so for the series proper it became a benevolent animal shelter.

* ''RenAndStimpy''

[[quoteright:350:[[{{Bolt}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mittens_bolt_pound_7109.jpg]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/CKennel.jpg

Poor Old Shep spends the night in a smelly, damp concrete prison with no food or water and tough-looking street dogs snarling at him. Unless Shep can stage a daring breakout, he'll be dragged out and put to sleep the very next day!

* Parodied in the children's book ''Dear Mrs. [=LaRue=]: Letters from Obedience School'', by Mark Teague. A dog who pulls on his owners leash too much gets sent to obedience school and writes letters to her about how much of a prison it was when it was a luxury. He made it seem like he ran away from it too while he was just released and everyone ''in town'' was overjoyed to see him when he came back.

* Dan has this view of animal shelters in an episode of ''DanVs.''

* ''HotelForDogs''. "At least it's better than the pound."

Fortunately becoming a DiscountedTrope as the plight of abandoned animals is becoming more and more known. May be an outgrowth of the ForgottenTrope of the dogcatcher as the jerk who takes your family pet because you can't afford a license. Especially strange when applied to zoos and/or wildlife rehabilitation centers (for the most part modern real life examples of both are pointedly populated with animals who for various reasons would never survive in the wild). Probably related to the [[PlayingWithSyringes Sadistic Science Lab]] and [[TheydCutYouUp the fear of winding up there]].

* ''LadyAndTheTramp''. "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Interestingly, the dogcatchers aren't really demonized or set up as villains, but as people just doing their jobs.
** Averted in a {{Scamp}} comic where after spending an entire day trying to find a place to cool off on a hot summer day, Scamp gets sent to the pound, where the dogs there have built an escape tunnel ([[ContinuityNod which appears to be the same one they were working on in the movie]]), but stay anyways because it is nice and cool inside.

* ''RenAndStimpy''
* We hate to bring up such a notorious [[NightmareFuel childhood]] [[TearJerker destroying]] moment, but the first ''{{Garfield}}'' animated special ''Here Comes Garfield'' has him and Odie trapped and alone in such a pound.
** A bumbling Animal Control officer is a regular antagonist in ''TheGarfieldShow''

* After being falsely accused of attacking Beebee Bluff (when he was just trying to rescue her from falling in thin ice), Porkchop of {{Doug}} is confiscated by the pound and sentenced to 'execution'. The entire matter is played out as if he's actually in a maximum security prison.

* In the movie ''Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey,'' the animal shelter is initially portrayed like this -- but it's subverted once we switch from the animals' point of view to the humans'. [[spoiler:The animals escape because they want to get back to their owners, not knowing that they would have been reunited ''sooner'' if they had stayed at the shelter and waited for the owner to pick them up.]] (This was the first time this editor remembers being pissed off by dramatic irony.)
** They were also nice enough to remove the porcupine quills from Chance's face, which he interpretted as a form of torture. Partly because he didn't know any better, and it does hurt, and partly because he was rescued from the pound by his owner, and has a severe hatred of the pound, which he refers throughout the series as "the bad place".

* The 1995 movie ''Fluke'' not only has a Prison Pound, it also has an Evil Research Lab. And did we mention that the titular dog is a reincarnated ''human''?
* {{Bolt}} has the titular dog and hamster Rhino trying to bust out cat Mittens from a pound where the dog-catchers have pepper-spray.

* On ''RockosModernLife'', Rocko gets [[IAmNotWeasel mistaken for a dog]] and is put on the pound. Appalled by the deplorable conditions, he decides to run for city dog catcher. He loses, but the city simultaneously votes in a more liberal animal control policy, and the role of dogcatcher (won by Mr. Bighead) is reduced to "glorified pooper scooper".
* The pilot for ''PoundPuppies'' had the dogs run a secret adoption network from the pound a la ''HogansHeroes''. Naturally, comparing the pound to a Nazi stalag didn't suit the networks, so for the series proper it became a benevolent animal shelter.
** And then went back to the original concept in "The All-New Pound Puppies Show" season.
* In the book ''Dog,'' the titular dog leaves the dumpster he grew up in and ends up captured by the dogcatcher and thrown into a van with other dogs. He befriends Shep, a big, white, shaggy dog, learns that after only three days where strays are not picked up by their owners or adoped, they are put down. His group of dogs are put into cages and spend two days there. The other dogs shout, some claiming to be pets and wanting to know what they did to deserve their fates. Dog is adopted. Cruelly, other dogs are not as lucky.
* In the same vein as this trope, one of the books by Kenneth and Adrian Bird about the talking dog called Himself had his owner leave him at a dog hostel while he went on holiday. The dogs there are cruelly treated by the couple running the business, so Himself ends up leading a revolt.
* Along the same lines is Pick-A-Dilly Pet Shop for the [[PurrTenders Purr-Tenders]]. The cats there aren't being sold, so they wind up disguising themselves as other animals just to get out, and they're all ''terrified'' of being taken back... even though there's no evidence that they're being ignored or mistreated by the owner. (His ''dog'', on the other hand, is a dick.)

* Parodied in a childrens book that this troper can't recall the name of. A dog who pulls on his owners leash too much gets sent to obedience school and writes letters to her about how much of a prison it was when it was a luxury. He made it seem like he ran away from it too while he was just released and everyone ''in town'' was overjoyed to see him when he came back.
** That would be ''Dear Mrs. [=LaRue=]: Letters from Obedience School'', written and illustrated by Mark Teague. It was followed up by ''Detective [=LaRue=]: Letters from the Investigation'' and ''Letters from the Campaign Trail: [=LaRue=] for Mayor''.

<<|AnimalTropes|>>

* On ''RockosModernLife'', Rocko gets [[IAmNotWeasel mistaken for a dog]] and is put on the pound. Appalled by the deplorable conditions, he decides to run for city dog catcher. He loses, but the city simultaneously adopts a more liberal animal control policy, and the role of dogcatcher (won by Mr. Bighead) is reduced to "glorified pooper scooper".

We really, ''really'' hope, dear readers, that you know that this common fictional portrayal of animal shelters is, at the very least, somewhat inaccurate.

We are not supposed to ask, upon seeing such a fictional pound, how an abandoned or at-risk '''domestic animal''' is expected to be happier without shelter, companionship, a regular supply of food, and health care.

That said, this trope is not without a [[TruthInTelevision grain of truth]]. Animal control facilities are not nearly as terrible as portrayed in these cartoons, but the vast majority of animals to enter them do not leave alive. Thankfully modern animal control facilities no longer round up and drown dogs by the hundreds (the New York City dog pound of the 1800's was notorious for drowning dogs in the Hudson River). But Old Shep does not have a fantastic chance of surviving any "traditional" (aka: kill shelter) animal control or animal shelter, if he's in there for more than a month or two before finding a foster home.

May be an outgrowth of the ForgottenTrope of the dogcatcher as the jerk who takes your family pet because you can't afford a license. Possibly related to the [[PlayingWithSyringes Sadistic Science Lab]] and [[TheydCutYouUp the fear of winding up there]].

* Not exactly this trope but in the same vein, one of the books by Kenneth and Adrian Bird about the talking dog called Himself had his owner leave him at a dog hostel while he went on holiday. The dogs there are cruelly treated by the couple running the business, so Himself ends up leading a revolt.

* RealLife animal-welfare services have a mixed relationship with this trope. On the one hand, they don't want people to compulsively hoard pets for fear that they'll be euthanized if Animal Control ever finds out about them; on the other, they don't hesitate to milk [[TearJerker the tragedy of shelters]] to encourage adoptions, spaying/neutering, and/or donations.
* [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel Puppy mills]] make Doggy Prison [[ItGotWorse look like Club Med]].