Trish Bennett, Editor
CIRCLEVILLE – Under ordinary circumstances, the Wright-Poling Pickaway County Dog Shelter is equipped to accommodate 42 homeless dogs at the Ringgold Southern Road facility.
As of Friday, the shelter is housing 65 animals and is heading into the 4th of July weekend, traditionally the busiest time of year for the intake of stray and lost pets.
“We need adoptive homes,” said Marc Rogols, chief dog warden. “We’ve been calling for donations for things like bleach, collars and leashes that we desperately need, but honestly what would help most of all is for people to come in here and give these animals a home.”
The shelter is brimming with potential canine companions housed wherever they can fit. Smaller dogs are being kept in stacked portable cages, and larger dogs fill the kennels and every other available space.
Though the shelter is well over capacity, Rogols said his staff works tirelessly to care for the animals and promote adoptions instead of euthanizing perfectly healthy and loving dogs due to nothing more than a lack of space to keep them.
Rogols said he is concerned, though, that they will see even higher numbers next week following the 4th of July holiday.
“Every year, we come back on the fifth and we will be inundated by calls about lost dogs and found dogs,” Rogols said. “Hopefully you can match them up, but’s it’s never 100 percent. And lately we’ve been seeing dogs that have just been abandoned here, for lack of a better word. We know who the owners are and have contacted them, but they’re making no effort to come in and get their dogs.”
Adoptions are $55 (cash or check only), which includes the price of a current dog tag. Adoptive families also receive a gift certificate for the first visit with a local veterinarian, along with discounts for spaying or neutering as required.
The Pickaway County Dog Shelter, located at 21253 Ringgold Southern Road, is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday each week. It will be closed this Monday, however, in observance of the Independence Day holiday.
The shelter can be reached by calling 740-474-3741.
The Humane Society of the United States offers tips on its website to help keep pets safe during the 4th of July, when they can be traumatized or frightened off by the light and noise of fireworks and other festivities.
Anyone who finds or loses a pet during the 4th of July or any time is urged to contact the dog shelter to help reunite the animal with its owner as quickly as possible.
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
