New Shelter To Relieve Over Population
Its good to see communities trying new ways to spend more time finding homes for abandoned pets. This article comes from the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon.
County welcomes stray dogs
New arrangement takes burden off Willamette Humane Society
CAROL MCALICE CURRIE
Statesman JournalCome Monday, dogs on the lam in Marion County will no longer be treated to the hospitality of the Willamette Humane Society.
Instead, they’ll be picked up and delivered by county employees to new digs at the Marion County Dog Control and Shelter east of Salem on Aumsville Highway across from the county jail.
The humane society is prepared for the change, which has been in the works since 2002.
Knowing that it soon will have to house about 2,000 fewer dogs per year, the shelter’s staff is eager to shift its time and attention to increasing the number of adoptions of owner-surrendered animals, said Susan Carey, executive director at WHS.
“When we first started discussing the separation, we knew we wanted to be a place for finding animals homes,” Carey said. “This will help us both focus more on each animal.”
The new county shelter will begin receiving stray dogs Monday. It will be open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Owner-surrendered dogs still will need to be taken to the Willamette Humane Society. And the WHS will continue to take in cats and kittens from both counties as well as dogs from West Salem and Polk County.
Last year, the WHS took in about 7,600 cats and 4,100 dogs.
“It might be a little confusing for the public at first because we’ve always been where the dogs have been brought and held,” said Kimberly Mounts, a WHS spokeswoman. “But most other large communities in Oregon (such as Portland, Medford and Eugene) have this type of multiple-agency service, and they work very well together.”
Carey said the most immediate impact of shifting strays to the county is that it will eliminate some of the problems that have accompanied the growing number of abandoned dogs in the community.
“We’ve had to use some creative ways to house them all,” Carey said. “From finding foster homes to using other partner organizations like the Oregon Humane Society, this will ease that burden.”
