Animal Shelters

Why is it that Animal Shelters are never open?  It's almost like they don't want you to come and adopt an animal.  

I went to my local animal shelter on a Saturday.  I had looked on their website prior to leaving and their website said that they were open on Saturday for two hours.  When I arrived, however, there was a sign on the door stating that "Due to staff shortage, we are closed on Saturdays."  My first thought was, "Why didn't they say so on their website," and my second thought was, "Can I fill in their staff shortage?"

Then that got me thinking.  Exactly how much does the animal shelter make every month?  They might have a staff shortage due to the fact that they don't have the money to pay more people.  That might also explain why they are always closed.  

The second closest animal shelter to where I live never has staff at the shelter unless you make an appointment to go and adopt.  You call an animal control officer's personal phone to make an appointment because the shelter doesn't have it's own line and in order to volunteer, you have to call this officer as well.

Is it like this all over the U.S. or is it just where I live?  I think that shelters should be open more often and especially on a Saturday.  Say there's a family that is thinking about adopting a dog.  The father works every weekday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the shelter is open every weekday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.  When is the father supposed to take the rest of the family to the shelter to adopt?  Or is the wife just going to go and hope that the father is okay with whatever she brings home?  What about people who want to volunteer?  It's much easier to go to the shelter, fill out the forms, then start volunteering instead of having to call, setup a time, and then fill out the forms and start volunteering.  Besides, I'm a student who is busy with classes and homework every weekday and then bored out of my mind every Saturday.

Anyways, it's a real shame that neither of the shelters closest to me accept volunteer help when I have time to help, so it looks like the 40 hours of volunteer work at an animal shelter is going to be a lot tougher than I had originally planned.