Take me home, please …

Shelter's low-kill policy a daunting challenge

By LYNNETTE HINTZE/Daily Inter Lake

The county animal shelter staff continues to work toward its goal of being a low-kill shelter, but it isn't easy.

That was the consensus of the shelter director and shelter advisory committee that met Monday to talk about holding conditions and animal numbers at the county facility.

It's been close to two years since a staffing shakeup at the shelter on Cemetery Road put the facility on a tumultuous course that ended with the City-County Health Department taking over jurisdiction of the shelter in June 2007.

Things had to change, county officials acknowledged, and although sweeping improvements have been made at the shelter, it's still a challenge to accommodate all of the dogs and cats and maintain a low-kill policy.

"I'd like the community and public to work on ideas of how to develop" more space for animals, Shelter Director Kirsten Holland said. "I don't think anyone in this room wants to see healthy animals euthanized."

Holland outlined a plan to maximize space by relocating the washer and dryer and converting the laundry room into a partitioned area for stray and sick cats. The current stray-cat room would be converted to a group room for eight to 10 dogs.

"I think we can make something like that work in our shelter," Holland said.

With a limited investment, the shelter could install a dog door to the outside, so that dogs in the group environment could go outdoors. They would be placed in crates at night.

Crates already are used at the shelter, and while using them doesn't appeal to everyone, it's a workable option, Holland said.

"The only thing crates don't allow is the ability for the dogs to jump up," she said. "I'm not sure the inability to jump is preferable to euthanasia."

Holland also said the shelter needs to take a tougher stand when evaluating dogs for aggression as they come in.

County Health Administrator Joe Russell agreed, adding that it's important to bring in outside help to assist with decisions about aggressive dogs.

"I don't think the demeanor they [aggressive dogs] exhibit with the paid staff is indicative of how they'll behave" when they're adopted, Russell said.

Committee member Tom Marino said he believes the county is wasting resources by housing aggressive dogs that can't be adopted.

"We have to be realistic," he said. "Keeping them in substandard-sized housing is not more humane than putting them down."

Holland said it would help for the shelter to have guidelines for temperament tests when they're evaluating aggressive dogs.

"When we have to euthanize, those guidelines would help," she said.

Committee member Carmen O'Brien said the county is not meeting its mission statement for the shelter if animals are kept in cramped conditions for long periods of time. Euthanizing the animals would be a more humane alternative than keeping them in "less than humane" conditions, she said.

"We're keeping them at a cost of making them unadoptable," O'Brien said, adding that the county either needs a bigger shelter or a change in its euthanization policy.

THE SHELTER tracks its live-release rate, and this year it has ranged from 96 percent in February to 79 percent in October.

Of the 258 animals that came in during October, half were adopted. Another 20 percent were returned to their owners and 21 percent were euthanized or died of illness. Nine percent were rescued.

Holland and her staff also track the reasons for euthanizing dogs and cats. Of the 18 dogs put down last month, four were euthanized for aggression and seven for illness. Most of the cats euthanized were ill.

To date this year, the shelter has euthanized 114 dogs and 125 cats. That's just a fraction of the facility's kill numbers just three years ago.

Holland said the staff and volunteers work hard to find homes for as many animals as possible. The Humane Society's Charlotte Edkins Animal Adoption Center has eased the shelter's animal load by taking animals as it has room for them.

Russell said he believes the shelter "is on the right track," but noted that everyone involved "will have to work very hard to keep the census where it needs to be."

Everyone at the meeting agreed that public education is still the key to reducing the number of animals coming into the shelter. Spaying and neutering pets is essential, Russell said. So are vaccinations and adequate space to keep pets.

Holland told of one dog that had been chained up for five years with no or little human interaction. When pets like that are brought to the shelter, they're basically unadoptable, she said.

Committee chairwoman Myni Ferguson said she's encouraged by the changes that have been made at the county shelter over the past year.

"It sounds like we're on the right track," she said. "We all want the same thing."

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com