Animals overwhelming shelter

In spite of a pet adoption event held Saturday, the Morgan County Humane Society animal shelter is on track to having a record number of pets coming into the shelter this month.

Teens from The Haven Youth Center sponsored a pet adoption event Saturday, and while only a pair of cats were adopted by a Franklin family, the group did donate cat and dog food to the shelter, along with cleaning supplies.

The Haven teens Seth Wilson, Courtney Thacker, Alisha Thacker, Miranda LaMar and Tori Dillon were there to give either bags of pet food or a collar or leash to anyone who adopted a pet that day.

The only recipients were Josh and Charissa Stephenson, and their children, Caylin, 3, and Eliot, 2, who drove from Franklin to adopt two cats from the Martinsville shelter they saw on the Internet site, Petfinder.com.

The supplies the Haven teens brought to donate to the shelter and give away were purchased with a grant from Youth as Resources.

And while a pair of young littermates did go to a good home, three more cats and three dogs were surrendered to the shelter the same day, which appears to put the shelter on track to taking in a record number of cats and dogs this month, said shelter director Angie Laudermilk.

"If people would just get their pets fixed, we could get a grip on this problem," Laudermilk said.

Laudermilk said for the month of May, the shelter took in 88 cats and 101 dogs, while families adopted only 28 cats and 72 dogs. For the month of June, the shelter had already taken in 63 cats and 54 dogs. "And it's only the 18th," Laudermilk said Monday morning.

Laudermilk said the shelter has grant money available to offset the cost of spaying or neutering pets, which only cost pet owners $5 per animal, and only $9 for the cost of the rabies vaccination, necessary when pets are adopted from the shelter.

"There's really no excuse not to get your pets fixed," she said.

Laudermilk explained that the record warm temperatures tend to make the problem of stray cats and dogs worse.

"When the weather's warmer, they (cats) tend to have more heat cycles," she explained. "It's the same for dogs."

And while a majority of animals come to the shelter from all over the county, there are an increasing number coming in, even from inside the city.

Laudermilk said she is determined to help owners spay and neuter their pets. She even offered to pick up pets, take them to a veterinarian for the procedure, and take the pet back home.

"I know there's people out there who don't have money to buy gas to take them to the vet right now," she said. "If they call, I'll come and get them, take them to the vet, and bring them back.

"We have to do whatever it takes to get their pets fixed. That's the only way we'll break this nasty cycle."

source: www.reporter-times.com