Lost/found pets are held for 5 days. 

After the required hold time, there is no guarantee the pet will remain available for the public.  

Yes, it is a ‘shelter’.  They do have a roof over their heads and receive daily meals and medication when needed, all of this is temporary.

Think of a shelter as a garbage collector. 

They collect someone else’s unwanted discard, whether it be on the road or a surrender at their counters.

They do their best with the short staff (lay-offs are common now at the county), but our local shelters is definitely not a no-kill shelter. 

It is a very sad day when a pet is checked-in to a kill shelter. 

Sadly, many of us have rescued homeless pets on our streets.  We are the kind people trying to find the owners, actually thinking there must be a family out there missing this pet. 

The percentage of the pet missing is much less than the possibility they were dumped or just unwanted animals.

Most of us are not in a position to hold onto one of these homeless pets for too long, as we already have our own pet family. 

After all other avenues have been pursued, such as contacting all friends and neighbors, placing a listing in PE and Pennysaver, maybe a listing on Craigslist or contacting a rescue group, the only option is our local pound. 

This homeless pet is now at the pound with minimal chance of adoption due to over-population.

Any animal checking-in to the ‘shelter’ is subjected to:

1.STRESS, which lowers their resistance to diseases lurking about at the shelter and also alters their behavior/personality, lessening their chance to become adopted.

2. Easily contracting contagious DISEASES, some are deadly.

3. LOSING THEIR IDENTIFY 

The pet used to be known by a family or others.  Once checked-in, they lose all hope of displaying their ‘cuteness’ and special tricks or personality. 

Let’s not sugar-coat this and assume every sweet, loveable, cute pet is going to get adopted.  So many adoptable pets are euthanized every day.

Spay and neuter.  That’s the solution to this pet-overpopulation.  But still, I hear about many of our own neighbors up here that do not alter their pets.  Why?  They end up with an unwanted litter and this litter is pushed out into the world, taking up space that another unwanted puppy/kitten would have taken. 

Too many litters, not enough homes.  Where do all of these kittens/puppies go?  Well, they go to homes that wanted a cute pet at the moment or taken to the ‘shelter’.  Yes, the ‘shelter’.  After all, they do have a roof over their heads and receive daily meals and medication when needed.   

Please help by educating others…..spay/neuter.