Yesterday, the Habersham County Shelter saw a few adoptions, a rescue agency pulled 14 shelter animals, each staff member took home at least one animal— and the shelter still had more animals come in than they had leave. Right now, the shelter doesn’t have a single open cage.
Habersham Animal Care and Control Director Madi Nix says that the shelter has seven large dogs scheduled to come in for surrender today, and that people are bringing the same amount of kittens into the shelter now as they were during “kitten season” in the spring.
“We’ve made sure to ask folks to please make sure they’ve tried other options before surrendering- but we understand nobody is adopting and rescues are full,” Nix said in a highly shared Facebook post. “We can’t- and we won’t turn anyone in our jurisdiction away- because that’s what we are here for. For our citizens. We don’t leave them without options.”
But Nix, and the rest of the shelter’s volunteers and staff, need the community’s help to lighten the load of animals at the shelter.
What you can do
Bringing a new addition to your family home is always a great way to clear out shelters, but for many people, adopting isn’t an option right now. Even if you can’t adopt, you can help the shelter and the animals looking for homes.
If you’re considering adopting, Nix encourages you to come meet some of the furry friends available for adoption; you might just find your new best friend. You can even check out the cats and dogs available for adoption on their Facebook page.
If you’d like to open your home to an animal temporarily, the shelter is looking for foster pet parents. Fostering helps get animals out of the shelter and on the road to adoption. Rescues are typically looking for animals that have been in home environments, according to Nix, and fostering helps these animals become even more adoptable.
Nix says adult animal fosters can typically find a safe place to go within one to two weeks of fostering. If you already have other furry friends at home, the shelter can help match you with an animal that will fit right in with them.
If you or someone you know has had a pet go missing, the shelter may very well have them. In fact, a significant portion of the dogs the shelter takes in are microchipped and waiting for their families to bring them home. Unfortunately, many families never do come. Check out the shelter’s Facebook page to see if you see a familiar face.
If you know someone who works with a rescue, or happen to know of a rescue that could help, consider reaching out to them. Nix says she’s “a broken record” when it comes to contacting rescues for help, and community members may have a different impact on getting rescues to save some of Habersham’s animals.
If you have some spare time, volunteering at the shelter to help socialize animals can help them find homes. Ever since the shelter started their puppy playgroups, shelter dogs have been happier, healthier and adjusted for fur-ever homes.
