Netty, a mixed pit bull, was adopted three days after she arrived at a Philadelphia shelter. But this summer, her owners of 12 years dropped her back at the same shelter. They said it was time to put down the 15-year-old dog.

“She was returned with a requested euthanasia,” said Maddie Bernstein, manager of lifesaving at the Pennsylvania SPCA. “She was old and having some incontinence difficulties in the house.”