Lexington County animal shelters continue to attempt brand-new methods to handle animal overpopulation.
Pawmetto Lifeline (1275 Bower Pkwy. in Columbia) and Lexington County Animal Services (321 Ball Park Rd,) are each continuously examining the methods they discover animals permanently houses and how they deal with the animals while they’re in their care.
Pawmetto Lifeline, a not-for-profit no-kill organization, has actually turned its focus to foster choices for big breed dogs. According to Denise Wilkinson, CEO, the leading concern in shelters statewide are big dogs, with numerous being bully types.
Wilkinson informed the Chronicle that upon getting to the shelter, dogs start to psychologically weaken within 72 hours if they are not getting the workout and enrichment they require.
“When a dog starts to deteriorate mentally you start to see behavioral issues,” Wilkinson said. “To avoid that, we are now putting the large breed dogs in foster homes. So they can learn to live as a family member and they can begin to get the training and socialization that they need.”
While the county animal shelter is not able to offer a foster program, it does have an adoption rescue organizer who touches with more than 100 saves to help get animals embraced. According to Wilkinson, Pawmetto utilized to work more with saves, and still has rescue partners, however due to an increase of dogs numerous locations are overloaded today.
The CEO informed the Chronicle this is why Pawmetto has actually turned a focus to dealing with the neighborhood.
“Our message is, ‘It’s not my problem. It’s a community problem,’” she said. “And all of us require to engage and work to resolve the issue. So we require you to foster. We require you to contribute. We require you to come here and volunteer “
While focus is placed on embracing out animals, shelters likewise need to handle inbound dogs. Pawmetto and the county are both getting their dogs from comparable locations.
According to Brittany Jones, animal services director for the county, a lot of their dogs originated from residents who have actually discovered a dog running around. Jones said that when this occurs, dogs are held for a five-day duration to see if anybody declares them prior to they are sent to a rescue or the adoption center.
Jones said that the county likewise gets animal surrenders, with peaks seeking summertime and around the vacations. She included that a big wave was viewed as an outcome of things opening after the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Pawmetto gets animals from the street, it likewise has a contract with West Columbia, a town without a shelter, for all dogs the city gets to go to them – other than for pit bulls, which are sent to the county shelter.
Wilkinson’s thinking for the exemption of bully types in its contract with West Columbia is since it already has a waitlist for the slots they have available for these dogs.
How each shelter deals with pit bulls and other bully types varies.
Jones informed the Chronicle the county shelter attempts to avoid identifying a dog as a pit bull.
“Several dogs will give a pit bull look,” she said “You can put a boxer and Lab together and you’re gonna think it’s a Lab pit because [of the] boxers’ head shape.”
The director included that several proprietors, house owners associations and apartment building have constraints on specific types, explaining that they avoid calling dogs in their care pit bulls due to it possibly keeping them from discovering a home in these locations.
“A lot of people have a bad taste in their mouth about the word pit bulls so we try to refrain from that,” Jones said.
The circumstance is a bit various for Pawmetto, with Wilkinson stating that they do not avoid calling a pit bull a pit bull, pointing out that there is liability in doing so.
“You can call it a Lab, you can call it a boxer mix, you can call it anything you want to call it,” she said. “But at the end of the day it is considered a pit bull and it’s the pit bull mixes that are dying at the highest rate in the shelters.”
Wilkinson informed the Chronicle that some shelters are turning the script on them, informing Pawmetto that they are victimizing the breed. She said this is not the case, mentioning that the breed is already being victimized due to its history with dog battling.
The CEO said Pawmetto desires legislation to help safeguard the breed, including that pit bulls take longer to adopt and have a greater return rate.
“You got to be very careful about where you place them or who you place them with.” Wilkinson said. “And I think the problem with a lot of the bully breeds is they’re owned by the wrong people. So they haven’t received the training and socialization that they need.”
“They can be amazing family members, but you’ve got to train them and socialize them because they are bred for their strength,” she included.
Wilkinson included that the issue with the breed isn’t the breed itself, however the overpopulation of them, informing the Chronicle that yard breeders are having litters left and right.
According to Wilinkson, the good thing about Pawmetto is that no matter what, when animals come there, they stay. She included that they make sure dogs receive the exercise and enrichment that they need by letting dogs that have been onsite for a while go outside, whether that be a car ride, a swimming excursion or a trip to Saluda Shoals Park.
She included that they are dealt with like family members, stating that Pawmetto desires dogs to be healthy psychologically and physically.
“We’d still love to adopt all of them,” she said, “But it’s hard.”
Keywords
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