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Pets Inc., a Columbia pet shelter says they just simply can not accommodate all the animals that come thru their doors.<\/p>\n
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Signs such as this one can be found on the property at Pets Inc. While South Carolina law prohibits animal abandonment, people will still leave their animals on the grounds, officials said.<\/p>\n
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By Delaney McPherson One of the first things you see when you enter the property of\u00a0Pets Inc. Animal\u00a0Rescue is an official-looking sign that reads \u201cWarning. Abandoning a pet is cruel and illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfortunately, this sign does not always prevent pet dumping, even though the West Columbia shelter warns that the area is monitored and the business will take legal action.<\/p>\n Abandonment is still a serious issue for the shelter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot of animals that are found running loose. And then we come to work and we\u2019ll find two animals that have been thrown in our dog park. or come to work and there\u2019s a dog tied up at the post,\u201d said\u00a0Sammy\u00a0Wullner, the\u00a0chief of operations at Pets Inc.<\/p>\n As far as dumping grounds go, Pets Inc. is a pretty good choice from an animal’s point of view. As one\u00a0of the\u00a038\u00a0no-kill\u00a0shelters in South Carolina, Pets Inc. will keep dogs until they have found a home, once as long as 454 days.\u00a0But their policy of not euthanizing animals means that the shelter can fill up, and stay full until the animals are adopted. In that case, they cannot take more animals, no matter how dire the need.<\/p>\n Recently, Pets Inc. took in\u00a0more than\u00a0100 animals from\u00a0coastal South Carolina\u00a0shelters that were evacuating from Hurricane Irma.\u00a0In order to make room for the new animals, Pets Inc. was forced to send the majority of their animals already in the shelter to foster homes, a step officials consider a worst-case scenario option.<\/p>\n Uncontrolled animal reproduction is part of what leads to shelters becoming overcrowded\u00a0and animals being killed. A cat that is not\u00a0neutered and\u00a0her offspring\u00a0can produce more than 400,000 cats<\/a>\u00a0in just seven years. Due to this,\u00a0Wullner\u00a0stresses the importance of a\u00a0program called\u00a0TNR\u00a0–\u00a0 trap, neuter, return.<\/p>\n Shelters will take in feral cats and neuter them, then release them back to their colonies. This prevents them from creating more cats who will eventually end up in the shelter, in some cases to be euthanized. According to the Solano Feral Cat\u00a0TNR Task Force, it costs $50 to spay or neuter a cat, whereas it costs $100 to have them euthanized.<\/p>\n Wullner\u00a0emphasizes how important\u00a0it is to get animals fixed. The\u00a0non-profit\u00a0rescue\u00a0operation\u00a0attempts to accommodate\u00a0every animal it encounters, but that goal simply is not realistic.\u00a0The shelter can fill up and when that happens, it cannot take more animals no matter how desperate the situation.<\/p>\n Overcrowding can lead to\u00a0illness and stress among the animals, which is why some shelters will decide to euthanize.\u00a0While Pets Inc. tries to make the shelter as welcoming as possible for animals, it\u2019s never an ideal situation.<\/p>\n \u201cAnimals can be psychologically depressed just like people. And being in the shelter, their health can go downhill. All animals need love and affection from people but some animals, it is truly detrimental\u00a0to put them in a shelter,\u201d\u00a0Wullner\u00a0said.<\/p>\n Pets Inc. is currently upgrading its camera system in order to identify people who dump animals on their property, but\u00a0there is still a long way to go.\u00a0According to a 2016 report from the Shelter Animals Count, there are more\u00a0than\u00a04,200 dogs<\/a> in shelters in South Carolina.\u00a0Based on the regional average, 10% of those animals will be euthanized.<\/p>\n Since the hurricane, Pets Inc. has\u00a0adopted out seven of their evacuated dogs and plan to bring the dogs\u00a0in foster homes back to the shelter soon. It costs up to $300\u00a0to adopt a dog from the shelter.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you think about it, the puppy was fixed, the puppy had all its shots, the puppy was chipped, the puppy was dewormed and things of that nature, when you look at the $300,\u201d\u00a0said Denise Warren, a regular volunteer at the shelter.<\/p>\n Warren spends the days she volunteers giving individual care and attention to dogs at the shelter, and marvels at how a dog\u2019s demeanor can change when they\u2019re given attention and love.\u00a0But as much as the dogs need that solo attention, as long as the shelters stay crowded, the dogs will be left lacking.<\/p>\n
\nTHE CAROLINA REPORTER AND NEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u201cIn the spring, we\u2019re overwhelmed. I get\u00a020, 30 calls a day from people that found kittens and we just can\u2019t take them all.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n