FEATURES
Pets being surrendered because of finances
Laura Nation-Atchison
07-19-2008
The numbers say it all.
It’s one of the worst years yet for animals in terms of the numbers coming into the Animal Shelter of Pell City and there doesn’t seem to be much relief in sight.
It’s the height of the puppy and kitten season and to top it off, people are surrendering pets more often than before.
A lot of it has to do with changes in the economy, said Melissa Wilson, ASPC board members and volunteer.
People are bringing their pets in and saying they can’t handle the costs anymore, she said.
“Some have said they’re moving into an apartment and they can’t afford to pay the pet deposit, too,” Wilson said.
In May alone, the shelter too in 834 cats and dogs, and in June, another 778. Cats topped the number of dogs brought into the shelter in June numbering 439 to 339 dogs.
Additional animals coming in due to surrenders make an already crowded shelter even more so, Wilson said.
Thursday morning, shelter workers arrived to find three puppies left by the outer gate and before noon, three more dogs had been brought in for surrender.
Shelter workers hope for more adoptions to help prevent potentially good pets from being euthanized, but as numbers go up, so will the number of animals being put down.
A recent television spot publicizing the situation has been helpful, the shelter has had phone calls about adoptions and even some adoption activity in response to the publicity.
Byron and Patti Ketcham of Wilsonville saw the segment on television and although they already have dogs, they drove to the Pell City shelter to see about getting one.
They found Leo, an adult Pekingnese, a rescue from a St. Clair County puppy mill.
“We’re really looking for my mother,” Mrs. Ketcham said. “We think a small dog would be good as a comp[anion for her.”
After meeting Leo, it was just a few minutes before the Ketchams were filling out paperwork for the adoption so they could take Leo home.
“We saw the story about the overcrowding and decided to come look,” Mrs. Ketcham said.
The Ketchams also took a look on the shelter’s web site to consider the animals available for adoption.
Shelter volunteers are active pursuing adoptions, every Saturday they pack up adoptable animals and head to Pet Smart in Trussville to make the animals as visible as possible to potential owners.
The result has produced a better than the national average adoption rate for the shelter, with adoptions averaging from 70 to 100 per month.
The percentage of animals being adopted averages about 15 to 20 percent, said Ken Ray, kennel manager for the facility since it opened its doors in August, 2000.
Applications for adoptions are available at the shelter, located at 1071 Airport Road, and animals available for adoption may be seen on the shelter’s web site. Adoption fee is $100 for all dogs and puppies and cats or kittens. The adoption fee includes spay/neuter surgery at one of the shelter’s participating vets, microchipping, vaccinations, a heartworm test (dogs) a FELUK/FIV test (cats) and
deworming. All dogs, cats, puppies and kittens will be spayed or neutered prior to being released to their new home.
For further information, you may call the shelter at 205/814-1567.
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About Laura Atchison
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Laura Nation-Atchison is The Daily Home features editor.
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Contact Laura Atchison
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