Space is scarce at Southern Indiana animal shelters

Libby Cunningham, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·3 min read

Nov. 17—NEW ALBANY — Zorah is a sweet, shy Rottweiler that's been in the New Albany/Floyd County Animal Shelter since late August.

She's enjoying some treats from shelter Director David Hall and Adoption Coordinator Karyn Hickey on Thursday afternoon as a chorus of barks and meows echo across the building.

Hall said like almost all of the animal shelters in the region, the location in New Albany is almost full and the holidays are approaching, meaning more animals could need new homes in the coming months.

"She's a really great dog. She's not a huge fan of other dogs and small animals and tends to be selective on her humans," Hickey said. "When she picks you she's super goofy and affectionate and flops all over the place and loves to play."

She was brought in as stray to the shelter and her microchip linked her to a rescue in Florida after they couldn't get into contact with her previous owner. That rescue was working with the New Albany shelter to bring her back, then Hurricane Ian hit. Now she's up for adoption in Southern Indiana.

"So it just takes the right person and that's all part of the right fit," Hall said. "That's the whole offshoot to what we try to tell people, you got to wait. Puppies are cute, puppies are neat, but you don't know the personality of the dog like you do when it's maybe a year old."

Hall said he's not sure why people give pets as gifts during the holiday season, but it happens and sometimes people don't know what they're getting into. The same thing happened following the COVID shutdown.

"I really just think we are at a position where animals are coming back, sometimes when owners get the pet they didn't pay attention and didn't realize exactly what we are talking about," he said. "During the shutdown (people got animals) and they're back here now. They're just not realizing how much actual work the dog was."

Hall encourages people to do their homework before picking out a pet and to make sure they are ready for the responsibility and vet bills that go along with it.

The shelter has the capacity for about 50 animals total. Right now, there's a number of larger dogs and many cats up for adoption. Anyone who wants to adopt from the shelter will receive the pet with all vaccinations up to date and they will be spayed or neutered.

Hall said staffing is an issue when it comes to spaying and neutering pets at the shelter. Right now they don't always have enough veterinarians available to provide those services.

The shelter will be hosting an adoption event in a few weeks for people who are ready to commit to new pets. More information about that will be coming out soon.

Hall and Hickey said there's no real rhyme or reason for how long it takes for a pet to get adopted from the shelter.

"We have ones that leave the day they're up for adoption," Hickey said. "Then we have ones like (the dog) Zero, and Zero was a dog that was just adopted. He was up for adoption for three months."