THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2001
How pets can end up at the animal shelter ...
By Christine Brucker
Staff Writer
It can begin like this: People get the nostalgic idea that a puppy or kitten would be the perfect addition to the home. The little golden retriever playing fetch in the yard. The inquisitive blue-eyed Siamese kitten batting at a piece of string.
Then comes the first few weeks when the puppy chews the shoes and the kitten claws the sofa. What was once adorable now is destructive. Owners realize the responsibility involved in a pet. Sometimes, they change their minds and send the animal off to the the Humane Society.
The Seneca County Humane Society operates the local animal shelter. Each year, the shelter takes in unwanted and stray animals. Many are then put up for adoption.
Others have to be put down.
""We operate a low-kill shelter," said Deb Spurck, president of the board of trustees of the Seneca County Humane Society. "There are really no no-kill shelters."
When an animal is brought to the shelter, employees do an evaluation. Not every animal is able to be adopted.
"We take in any animal," said Barbara Phlegar, director of the Seneca County Humane Society. "We take into account what the owner says about the animal, the temperament, health history and if there is a bite history."
The animal gets checked by a veterinarian. If the animal is healthy and has a good temperament, it is offered for adoption. If the animal is sick, volunteers will take care of the animal until it is in an adoptable condition. If there is a bite history, the animal is put down.
Some animals need more care than others. Some come to the shelter as a result of animal-cruelty complaints.
"We get quite a few animal-cruelty complaints," Phlegar said. "In 2000, we received 125 animal-cruelty complaints. Investigations found 41 to be valid. Most of those were backyard dogs who were chained with no food, water or shelter."
In Seneca County, the Humane Society is the agency responsible for investigating complaints of animal cruelty. It is a private agency working in conjunction with the Tiffin Police Department and Seneca County Sheriff's Office.
According to Phlegar, if they receive a complaint, humane agent Tuesday Browning investigates.
"Most of the time, the calls are invalid," Browning said. "We get a lot of calls from people complaining that an animal is not being taken care of the way the caller would take care, of it or neighbors harassing each other."
If there is some legitimate cause for concern about the animal's welfare, Browning tries to educate the owner.
"I really try to educate and work with people first," she said. "Sometimes they just don't realize what they have to do."
There are instances in which the owner realizes the animal is too much to handle and turns it over to Browning.
Caring for the animals is not an inexpensive task. The shelter has an annual budget of $115,000.
"We receive $35,000 a year from the county license fund," Spurck explained. "We have contracted to house animals brought to us by the Tiffin animal control officer and the county dog warden. The rest of the money comes from donations, fund-raising efforts, adoption and redemption fees and donations of food and services."
The shelter can house 21 cats and 28 dogs at one time. Last year, the county dog warden took about 500 stray dogs to the shelter. Of those animals, 151 were reclaimed by their owners, 43 were adopted and the rest, 299 dogs, were put down.
"We try our best to place the animals," Phlegar said. "We have no set time the animal has to be adopted by. Sometimes we send them out to foster homes."
Phlegar and Spurck agree that owners should spay or neuter their pets to reduce the number of unwanted animals.