Monday, July 20, 2009
Second chance pets at Franklin County Humane Society
Photos by ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times
Hannah Sloan (left) and Justtina Smith, both 10, play with Shelly, a pomeranian at the Franklin County Humane Society.
ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times
Cats and kittens have been available for adoption at the center since April.
Nona Nelson, The Happy Wag
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Katie Bear is a fluffy, chocolate Lab mix with big soulful eyes, a pretty pink nose and paws the size of saucers.
Found as a stray -- she was microchipped but her family could not be located -- she's a little anxious and hates thunderstorms. But she snuggles with strangers and appreciates ear rubbings.
To meet Katie Bear is to love her. But until last Wednesday, meeting her and other homeless dogs in the care of the Franklin County Humane Society required appointments and logistics, with volunteers toting pooches from a kennel at a veterinary clinic and a network of foster homes throughout the county.
Now prospective pet parents can walk into the Inglath and Mac Cooper Adoption Center, the humane society's no-kill shelter on U.S. 220, and be able to visit with dogs such as Katie Bear.
"This is what we have been waiting for and working for," volunteer and transportation coordinator Anita Scott said. "Having the dogs here will definitely get more people interested in coming in."
The new facility, with its community rooms for cats and kittens, puppy playpens and quiet dens for dogs, is the product of three years of planning and work by humane society volunteers trying to reduce the high kill rate -- as high as 90 percent prior to 2006 -- of adoptable pets in the county pound.
Board chairman Donna Essig said the new 4,800-square-foot building cost more than $800,000. It was paid for with private donations -- the center is named after the most generous benefactors -- and a variety of fundraising efforts, including sales from an antique shop next door to the center.
The center is adjacent to the humane society's Planned Pethood veterinary clinic and has a staff of five full- and part-time workers and more than 50 volunteers.
The new building can hold up to 100 animals, depending on size and species. Cats and kittens have been available for adoption there since late April. But Essig said they cannot take in more animals than the staff and volunteers are adequately able to handle.
"We have to ensure the well-being of the ones we have," Essig said.
Adoptions range far
The center works to save adoptable pets from the Franklin County municipal animal control shelter located on U.S. 220 south of Rocky Mount.
Volunteer Jenny Richardson evaluates the dogs there, coordinates foster care and sends photos and descriptions to Scott, who tries to place as many as she can with more than 20 different rescue groups.
"We've had a good track record of getting great dogs," Richardson said.
The proof is in the numbers. In 2008, Essig said 846 homeless pets were helped by the humane society. Of those, just 136 were adopted by families in Franklin or surrounding counties.
But an adoption is an adoption, so each weekend, volunteer Elizabeth Little drives dogs and cats on transports, relaying them to waiting rescue groups. Despite having the adoption center, the volunteers still plan on transporting many adoptable pets out of Franklin County.
"There's too much supply and not enough demand," Scott said.
In addition to strays and unplanned litters, the center will take in pets that owners no longer want or aren't able to keep.
Richardson tries to counsel people who call asking if they can turn in their pets. She offers suggestions on ways to handle common behavior problems -- her expertise based on years of volunteering with animal organizations, working at a vet clinic and through her business of selling underground electric pet fencing.
"It's usually hard to convince people and usually not successful," Richardson said. But occasionally she has persuaded families to hold on to their critters.
"Sometimes just letting people know their pets have value can change their minds."
Numbers are promising
In a mostly rural county with no leash law or ordinance against free-roaming dogs, Essig said there will likely never be a shortage of unwanted puppies and kittens. Educating and convincing pet owners in Franklin County of the importance of sterilization remains a primary goal.
"Spaying and neutering was not that common when we opened," Essig said. "But now that's changing."
She said Planned Pethood's low-cost spay/neuter program has helped many families to get their animals fixed. In the nine years since it opened, Planned Pethood has sterilized more than 30,000 animals.
Last year the humane society received a grant from PetSmart Charities to cover the cost of more than 300 spay/neuter surgeries for pets of low-income families. County residents that meet the income requirement can have their pets sterilized for $10. Essig said they still have funds to cover 100 more surgeries.
She said it's an encouraging sign that while the population of the county has increased in the past 10 years, the number of unwanted pets euthanized at the animal shelter has decreased.
"We see that we can effect change," Essig said.
But the problem of pet overpopulation is far from solved. Cats and hunting hounds are the most common pets to end up at the pound, Scott said.
"It's the equivalent of being on a treadmill," Scott said. "You just never catch up."
And while fewer pets have been destroyed since it added an adoption specialist in 2007, death is the fate of many animals that end up at the county pound. According to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, 57 percent of cats and 25 percent of dogs taken in 2008 were euthanized.
"If people would just be responsible and spay or neuter and keep [their pets] at home, we would be out of business," Richardson said. "Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?"
