Dogs, cats claw their way to freedom
Three of the four dogs who escaped from a trailer are in the Flathead County Animal Shelter. The animals will be held until Friday of next week when they will be up for adoption.
One of the five cats who escaped from a trailer in the Flathead County Animal Shelter on Friday afternoon. The animals will be held until Friday of next week when they will be up for adoption.
Photo of the trailer the four dogs and five cats escaped from.
A trailer was discovered in the ShopKo parking lot in Evergreen on Thursday that apparently had been abandoned with four dogs and five cats inside.
Cliff Bennett, director of Flathead County Animal Shelter, said the dogs had chewed or clawed their way out of the trailer through the door.
“These dogs and cats were running around the parking lot,” Bennett said.
He said they ran up to the animal warden when he responded to a call about the loose animals. The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and animal control are investigating the case.
Bennett said the trailer is licensed to someone in Great Falls.
A 1973 Sunflower model with license plate 2C 70254, the trailer remained in the parking lot Friday with a note on the door giving the phone number of the animal shelter. It was parked on the far east side of the ShopKo lot with the door the dogs broke through facing east next to piled-up snow.
With bald and rotted tires, the trailer doesn’t appear road-worthy enough to have traveled more than a few miles.
Bennett didn’t know how long the trailer had been in the parking lot before the animals escaped. He said they had been drinking water from pools in the parking lot and didn’t appear to be starved.
“They’re in pretty good shape,” Bennett said.
The dogs included two white Maltese cross females weighing about 10 pounds each, a white Lhasa Apso cross female of about 10 pounds and a black Lab cross female of about 30 pounds. Bennett said the cats were all mixed breeds.
Receiving five cats Thursday into the crowded quarters forced the shelter to temporarily stop accepting cats surrendered by owners.
Bennett sent out a press release Friday announcing the closure, saying the shelter has “an unmanageable overpopulation of cats and is currently out of housing space.”
The shelter was caring for 68 cats as of Friday morning. Bennett said he will lift the closure when enough cats leave to take the shelter out of crisis mode for housing space.
“We’ve decided to send out a PSA [public service announcement] whenever we hit this point,” he said. “We’re asking for a lot of patience and understanding from people surrendering their animals.”
Staff and volunteers at the shelter are working to reduce the cat population through adoptions, pet rescue organizations and foster homes.
The need to occasionally restrict owner-surrendered pets is a consequence of Flathead County Animal Shelter’s low-kill policy under which only critically ill or injured or vicious animals are euthanized. Pets are not killed to make space.
According to Bennett, the public has various reactions when told of the closure.
“We had a lady come in with a cat who cried,” he said. “She had it with her in the hallway next to the door.”
Others become angry and make threats.
Staffers ask pet owners to try to find new homes for their dog or cat on their own. Shelter staff, dog trainers and veterinarians can provide advice to overcome behavior concerns.
Flathead Shelter Friends, a nonprofit organization that helps support the county shelter, has links to helpful articles and organizations to assist in training or finding a new home for a pet on its website, flatheadshelterfriends.com.
For more information, contact Flathead County Animal Shelter at 752-1310.
Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.