If you are considering adding a furry friend to your family, now is the perfect time.
The Stark County Sheriff's Office Canine Assistance Department and the Stark County Humane Society are running out of space and are encouraging people to consider adoption to make room for more animals.
"When you take in one (animal), you're really helping two," says Jackie Godby, executive director of the Stark County Humane Society. "You bring home a precious child and you open that cage for other children to come and get that help."
Godbey said the Humane Society has about 100 dogs and 133 cats and kittens. The agency also has cats at PetSmart stores in the Belden Village and Massillon shopping centers.
"We had cages that we could use as a couple and we were so full that we closed the doors," she said. "So instead of a bed, it's just a place to eat and drink (a double cage is used)."
Stark County Humane Society: Dog Lovers Association, 25th Annual Mutt Strut.
Stark County Dog Service has a large number of dogs
Meanwhile, there are 52 dogs in the district's canine department.
Stark County Dog Warden John Barber says the agency's goal is to have fewer than 40 dogs on hand at any given time. There are 29 kennels for adoptable dogs and 10 dogs are kept by carers until they are picked up by their owners.
Today, Barber says, most of those kennels are full of adoptable dogs.
"We're drowning in good dogs," a neighborhood dog sitter announced in a recent Facebook post. "40 dogs. No owners wanted. These are only available dogs. This does not include dogs waiting for an owner... When in doubt, bring home a new dog. Now is the time. We beg you. Our shelter is . full. we have no room. we must adopt."
Why are animal shelters full?
Animal shelters across the country are seeing more pets arrive at their doors and fewer people interested in adopting them. A combination of factors such as housing instability, a return to self-employment and inflation could exacerbate the problem, Godby and Barber said.
Godby said the Humane Society is dealing with more animals, especially abandoned animals, as people begin to resume normal activities after the pandemic . He said rising prices for items such as dog food and foreclosures helped.
"Every holiday we always see an increase in the number of dogs that come into the facility," says Barber. "I do not know why. Maybe someone chased someone else's dog and the dog got lost, or people didn't have someone to look after their dog when they went out of town. ."
Barber says most of the dogs that come to the shelter are not homeless, but their owners don't come looking for them.
"They are very healthy dogs," she said. “We're going to lose weight or maybe we're going to get skin diseases or things like that, but it's basically animal care... We really don't know what's going on or why it's happening at this point. "
According to Barber, the biggest problem is that fewer and fewer families are coming to the shelter.
“We try hard not to turn the place into an institution that needs rest. "We want to keep these dogs as long as possible to give them every chance to find a home, but when you get to that number where you have limited space (it becomes difficult)."
The Stark County Canine Department is open access, meaning that if someone comes in with a stray dog, the agency has no choice but to take them in.
"We cannot give them up," he said.
Where can I take a dog in Stark County?
Stark County Humane Society, 5100 Peach St. NE, Nimishillen Township, open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 am. to 4:00 p.m.
Stark County Dog Service, 1801 Mahoning Road NE, Canton, is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The agency encourages anyone interested in adopting to bring their children and other pets into their homes.
Available dogs can also be viewed on the sheriff's website at http://webnet.starkcountyohio.gov/petsearch.
Barber is urging dog owners to make sure their pets are microchipped as the agency uses dogs to reunite them with their owners.
Contact Paige at 330-580-8577, pmbennett@gannett.com or on Twitter @paigembenn.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Animal shelters in Stark are looking for people to adopt dogs.
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