Many animal lovers I meet express interest in getting more involved in the rescue movement. I usually recommend they get started by gaining animal handling experience at their local shelter. Dog walkers and cat cuddlers are always needed.

Most of the time, I get the same response, uttered nearly word for word.

“I love animals too much to work there. It would be too sad. I couldn’t handle it.”

It’s true that open-admission animal shelters – which means those that take in any animal regardless of space limitations, and the animal’s temperament, age or health condition – must euthanize animals, from 50 to 80 percent on average. No-kill is a myth that simply means selective admission.

There aren’t enough homes. There is nowhere else for these animals to go. Sometimes all shelters can offer is a peaceful, humane death.

The bad days at a shelter are terribly sad, but the good days make the heart soar like a bird in flight. When a Good Samaritan steps up to take in an old dog who didn’t appear to have a chance at a new life, or agrees to nurse a cat with medical problems, the pure joy brushes away the tears.

The angels who do this work hurt just as much as you would. It’s not easy. But they’ve found a way to put their pain aside and focus on the big picture. They are nourished by the knowledge that they will be the person who gives a dog his last romp outside to sniff the grass, or provide a cat with a final petting that will evoke her last purr.

Shelter workers ensure that somebody loved the forgotten animals in their final moments. I can’t think of a more selfless gift.