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An ethnographic study was made of a single 'kill shelter' serving a major metropolitan area [in the USA]. 76 h were spent observing all the facets of shelter work and life, including euthanasia of animals and training shelter workers how to do it. Results showed that workers had to be able to get used to the value of euthanasia, the technical aspects, as a humane act to reduce suffering, to be able to shift the blame on to the people abandoning the pets and themselves as having to combat pet overpopulation. The 'shelter culture' served to admit workers into an inner community once they performed euthanasia so that they could support each other, and also this community considered that attachment to particular animals was normal. Therefore the shelter culture adapted the euthanasia routine to accommodate concerns of the workers.