response: Well a pound is a place where stray livestock would be impounded until they were claimed by their owners.
history: I was thinking about volunteering at an animal shelter, do you know anything about them? Oh cool.   Well I know about "no-kill" shelters.   Even if it's full, a "no-kill" shelter will not kill treatable or healthy animals.  They only use euthanasia for animals that are dangerous to the public, or if they are terminally ill. I think the no-kill shelters are much better than the alternative. Do you know anything else? Well most european countries actually prevent the killing of healthy stray dogs. That's very thoughtful of them, I'm glad to hear that. Do you know when animal shelters first started? No I'm afraid I don't.  Did you know that " animal shelter" is a euphemism for "pound," an older term that was used? That makes sense, what's the distinction between a shelter and a pound?
knowledge: The word ''pound'' had its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would be penned or impounded until claimed by their owners.