Pets and the People Who Love Them for 9/13/17

Published 4:30 am Wednesday, September 13, 2017

We’ve all seen the coverage of Hurricane Harvey’s devastation and as I write this, Hurricane Irma is battering her way up Florida.

Last week, I wrote about the heroes who were rescuing both humans and animals in Texas. I imagine heroes will present themselves in Florida, too. Bless them.

While the impacts of these storms on the Tennessee Valley may be limited, they are affecting us in another way. The Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter is filled to capacity. Many rescues groups that normally would accept out-of-state animals are either accepting Texas and Florida cats and dogs to make room for those directly impacted by the storms or are within the disaster zones themselves.

Locally, the animals keep arriving. There are the cases of Cuddles, Freckles and their 11 pups. That’s a total of 13 dogs from a single owner. I don’t know that owner’s circumstances, but I do know this: If Cuddles and Freckles had been spayed before they went into their first heat, the shelter would not be responsible for finding homes for 13 additional dogs. If those 13 dogs weren’t occupying space, 13 other dogs wouldn’t now be at severe risk of euthanasia because of a lack of space and resources at the shelter.

This is usually the point at which some uninformed person criticizes what they would call a “kill shelter,” when in fact, the Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter saves thousands of lives every year. It does not, however, have the luxury of turning away animals when the shelter and foster homes have reached capacity, as so-called “no-kill shelters” do. It must accept all animals brought in by residents and animal control officers of Limestone County

When the space to house those animals is filled, and prospective owners, fosters and rescue organizations can’t be found for them, the only option is heartbreaking.

Every animal born in Limestone County, even if the owner finds a home for it, means a pet that otherwise would have been adopted from the shelter isn’t. Be responsible and have your pets spayed or neutered.

— Pets and the People Who Love Them is brought to you by your friends at the Athens Limestone Animal Shelter. To adopt a dog or cat, please visit the Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter at 1701 U.S. 72 (behind Limestone Veterinary Clinic) visit our Facebook page or call us at 256-771-7889. E-mail your questions and story ideas to me at PetsAndPeople@charter.net and I’ll check with the experts (veterinarians, animal behaviorists, etc.) and get back to you in a future column.