Richland County Dog Shelter struggling with overflow of animals
The Richland County Dog Shelter is not built to house 117 dogs.
But that's where it stood as of late Monday morning.
"Our comfortable level is about 70," said Missy Houghton, dog warden. "Our highest point that we ever reached was 142. That was about a month ago."
She said Richland County is not unique.
"It's nationwide," Houghton said. "Shelters everywhere are really struggling. We're all trying to hang in there and do the best that we can."
The dog warden said the situation is stressful for everyone — the dogs, the staff and the volunteers.
Shelters are typically loud and stressful for dogs anyway. With so many dogs, the staff and volunteers can't get them out of their kennels as much as they would like.
Houghton said it takes longer to clean the kennels, adding the workload has doubled.
Adoptions are down, while intakes are increasing.
Average stay for dogs at shelter has doubled this year
"Last year, the dogs' average length of stay was 21 or 22 days," Houghton said. "That's doubled this year."
She said many people are losing their homes or being forced to move and are having trouble finding places that will allow them to have dogs.
Houghton said owners are not always redeeming their lost dogs.
"They think they're going to be charged an arm and a leg," she said, adding the fee is $15 the first day and $5 each day after that.
Houghton said she tries not to take dogs that have licenses to the shelter. A license costs $18. The deadline to get one is Jan. 31, 2024.
The dog shelter is a no-kill facility, and Houghton said staffers are doing "everything we can" to keep it that way.
It's difficult, though, because behaviors they were previously able to address can go by the wayside because of the sheer number of dogs and additional workload.
"We have to look at the quality of life for the dogs," Houghton said.
Volunteers can help by walking the dogs, giving them both exercise and socialization. People need to sign a liability waiver before they can volunteer. They can help out from 11 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Saturday.
Adoption fees vary depending on how long dogs have been at shelter
The cost of adopting a dog that has been at the shelter for three or fewer months is $150. The fee includes spay/neuter, a license, microchip, first round of vaccines and deworming.
Those fees go down for longtime shelter residents. Dogs that have been there three to six months are available for $125, while dogs that have been there six months to a year are $100.
Dogs that have been at the shelter for over a year can be adopted for $50.
The shelter's hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
In the meantime, the shelter could use donations of either dry or canned wet food — any brand will do — laundry detergent, bleach and poop bags.
Houghton got one dog named Snakes out of the shelter to enjoy his final days. He had an aggressive case of cancer, so the dog warden took him home with her for the weekend.
"My goal in taking him home was to give him a quiet weekend, away from the noise and stress of the shelter because he deserves that," she posted on Facebook. "He has had as many snacks as he wanted and hours snuggled on the couch. He spent lots of time cuddled up with Marvel and Rampage (one of my dogs and one of my cats).
"I'm glad I was able to give him a place to go to relax and feel like he was home for the weekend. I'm grateful so many people have sent him well wishes and shown concern. Sometimes life isn't fair, and this is one of those times. But we do what we can to make things better for the beings we care about."
Snakes was put to sleep Monday morning.
mcaudill@gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County Dog Shelter looking for people to adopt pets
