No pound kills them all. They make real efforts to adopt as many as possible, but when there are MILLIONS of unwanted cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, etc, dumped on the city pounds every year, they have no choice but to euthanize. And don't let the "no kills" fool you - they can remain no kill by routinely turning away sick, older, or otherwise hard-to-place animals, and by charging relinquishing owners (or even a poor soul who found a stray they can't keep) hefty "donations" that must be paid upon surrender of the animal. I'm not saying that the no-kill shelters are a bad thing, I just want everyone clear on why not every shelter can be no kill.

The rest can't be let loose to run free. Think of what the world would be like if these millions of animals were roaming free. First of all, it would then be BILLIONS because many of them would not be spayed or neutered. There is also the problem of vicious dogs (and cats) being let loose on an unsuspecting, unprotected public. There is also the fact that most animals that are "let loose" as opposed to surrendered to a shelter die anyway, of disease, starvation, exposure, as coyote prey, being shot, being run over, etc. There are no humane people who would condsider this an acceptable alternative to euthanasia. Lastly, roaming pets are a nuisance - getting into the garbage, killing small livestock (in rural areas), spraying, etc. are problems we all occasionally encounter. These would be multiplied many fold if there were no pounds.

And, lastly, like Spencer mentioned, there are dangerous diseases that stray animals are prone to that can be communicated to man.

As distasteful as they are, until man himself learns to take responsibility, pounds and shelters will be necessary.