PALMER — It may very well be a win-win for the canine set: Human hikers get a doggy date, whereas pound pups get the jailbreak they’ve been ready for.
That, no less than, is the concept behind a brand new Mat-Su Animal Shelter program aimed toward pairing adoptable shelter dogs with individuals who need to borrow them for a couple of hours.
And if these volunteers find yourself wanting to maintain their short-term path buddies eternally? Shelter officers would by no means dream of stopping them, mentioned Abi Anspaugh, an assistant shelter supervisor.
“We want people to find a dog that is perfect for them and have a chance to do that,” she mentioned.
The new program, dubbed Miles and Mutts, connects volunteers with dogs for brief day hikes on a few dozen Matanuska-Susitna Borough trails designated as dog-friendly. The program can be available to the general public in mid-May, shelter officers mentioned.
Dogs might be booked for outings by calling the animal shelter or by visiting throughout open hours after midday on weekends. Before borrowing a canine, volunteers should signal a waiver and attend a quick orientation that features data on secure canine dealing with and care, officers mentioned. Volunteers are screened throughout a one-on-one assembly with shelter workers, they mentioned.
Outing lengths fluctuate and borrowed dogs should stay leashed and returned to the shelter by a chosen time, underneath the brand new program. Each canine can be fitted with a tracker within the unlikely case of escape, officers mentioned. Participating shelter dogs can be absolutely vaccinated, microchipped, neutered or spayed, freed from main conduct issues like aggression and available for adoption, they mentioned.
Volunteers interested by borrowing a canine can name the shelter to schedule a hike and find out about what dogs are available for adventures, officers mentioned. Children can take part if accompanied by an grownup, they mentioned. Volunteers could solely take one canine at a time, and household pets should be left at home; poop luggage, canine treats and a leash system can be offered, they mentioned.
Miles and Mutts mirrors a well-liked Doggy Day Out program utilized by shelters all through the U.S., together with in Valdez, Anspaugh mentioned. Similar applications are provided all through Hawaii.
Giving potential adopters an opportunity to spend time with a canine isn’t the one advantage of this system, mentioned shelter supervisor Jamie Kennedy.
Simply getting outdoors the shelter provides dogs an opportunity to socialize away from the generally chaotic atmosphere of the shelter, she mentioned. It additionally provides workers a window into how they may behave in a non-shelter atmosphere, she mentioned. Volunteers are given report playing cards to fee their borrowed canine’s conduct on every part from automobile and path manners to bowel actions. That suggestions is then added to the canine’s shelter file and shared with potential adopters.
For shelter canine Marley, a boisterous 9-month-old feminine Siberian husky, that post-hike report card doubtless included excessive marks for pleasure however low ones for in-car conduct after a recent outing with Cami Banea, a daily shelter volunteer.
Banea drove Marley to the Crevasse-Moraine path system close to Palmer for a brief hike Tuesday throughout a Miles and Mutts program check forward of subsequent month’s full public rollout.
Marley, who has been on the shelter since her homeowners dropped her off in late March, spent the drive from the shelter bounding across the automobile, mentioned Banea. She then sniffed her method down the path, yanking on her leash over a brief, sunny afternoon jaunt.
Banea mentioned she’s been patiently ready to search out the just-right shelter canine since her transfer to the Palmer space from California late final yr. She grabbed Marley for a hike to see if she’s the fitting candidate however apprehensive the fluffy white canine is perhaps too young to suit what she will deal with.
“I’m an overthinker,” she mentioned. “I’ve never had a dog, and volunteering gives you a chance to get to know them.”
The Miles and Mutts program is certainly one of many efforts by borough animal care officers to undertake out a near-record variety of animals in recent years. Other applications embody utilizing extra foster properties and rising the variety of animals despatched for adoption placement by native rescue organizations.
The shelter’s regular inflow is triggered primarily by financial challenges locally, a development seen statewide after the COVID-19 pandemic, mentioned shelter director Chris Loscar.
“We’re seeing just intake rates are increasing, adoption rates are decreasing,” he mentioned. “We’re seeing a lot more owner surrenders because of economic reasons.”
Over the primary three months of 2024, the shelter took in 736 animals, together with 244 dogs and 116 puppies, Loscar mentioned. The shelter took in 3,486 animals final yr and euthanized simply over 21% as a consequence of sickness or conduct points, officers mentioned.
There have been a few dozen dogs available for adoption as of Thursday, according to a shelter adoption website.
Shelter officers just lately started imposing a longstanding legislation that requires anybody who finds an animal to give up it to the shelter somewhat than to one of many area’s animal rescues to allow them to be precisely added to the shelter’s system. Those animals don’t add to crowding as a result of they’re sometimes despatched out to rescues after a three- to five-day holding interval, Anspaugh mentioned.
The shelter this month briefly stopped accepting dogs surrendered by homeowners as a result of it didn’t have sufficient open kennels to deal with them plus any incoming strays, Anspaugh mentioned. Adoptable dogs add to shelter crowding as a result of every canine requires a lot area, she mentioned.
Dogs that take part within the Miles and Mutts applications can be outfitted with bandanas promoting this system, Anspaugh mentioned. So they could find yourself not solely getting adopted but additionally serving as walking billboards for different dogs who aren’t as fortunate but.
“A great outcome would be drawing other people to the shelter, getting our foot traffic up for other animals in our building,” she mentioned.
