There is no room at the Kosciusko County Animal Welfare League.
The no-kill shelter is at full capacity.
In AWL’s care this week are a total of 424 animals, including 189 cats at the shelter, 85 dogs at the shelter, 59 cats in foster care, seven dogs in foster care, four at PetSmart and 80 in trial adoptions, according to information provided by AWL Executive Director Tonya Blanchard on Thursday.
The number of dogs may be the largest the shelter has ever taken in at one time. A litter of kittens is brought in almost every day, or someone is asking AWL to take in a litter.
“We have the Fourth of July coming up next week. We always make room for 10 extra kennels because we know that (some pets) will get lost and we are here to take them back to their homes. But we don’t have space for them. Nothing,” Blanchard said.
Those numbers don’t even count the number of cats and dogs on the waiting list to get in. She said there are about 150 cats, kittens and dogs on that list.
The Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County has 189 cats at the shelter, with 59 in foster care, four at PetSmart and others in trial adoption. Many of the felines are puppies, like these. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.At AWL’s Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, Blanchard told them he needed to do something and they agreed to a greatly reduced adoption fee for adult dogs and cats.
“It’s $10 for any adult, one year or older dog or cat with an approved application. We can send them out with a $150 deposit if they’re not fixed; if they’re not fixed, it’s $160 and then they get the $150 back when we fix them, just to make room and get them into a home instead of sitting here until we can fix them,” she said.
In addition to being neutered or spayed, all dogs and cats are microchipped, have their rabies vaccine up to date “and everything else”.
“Just because they cost $10 doesn’t mean there’s less care. They are still perfectly adoptable dogs. There is nothing wrong with dogs. There’s nothing wrong with cats,” Blanchard said.
Asked why people are leaving so many furry friends at the shelter, Blanchard could only offer one guess.
“I have no idea. They’re moving to different homes, they can’t keep them. A baby was born, etc.,” she said. “I know they’re not our dogs because all of our dogs are microchipped. And if they were our dogs — because a lot of people think, ‘Well, you guys were open during Covid and you adopted a lot’ — that’s not the case. These dogs are non-microchipped dogs, which tells me they’re not from any other shelter. All shelters microchip their dogs.”
Brooke Lyon, adoption and social media technology specialist at the Animal Welfare League, said: “A lot of people are surrendering their animals because these days they rent from landlords and landlords – firstly, it’s hard to find somewhere here to live. rent is going up – but many landlords and renters don’t allow pets. Or if they do, they will have to be like small dogs or cats that are snatched from their claws. Some places don’t even accept declawed cats, but it’s hard to find (veterinarians) who are willing to declaw cats because it’s considered inhumane. So the biggest part is people don’t have a place to live with their animals, that’s why we’re seeing so many coming in. Additionally, I know many people are struggling to find vets that are affordable. So those two things are the main reasons why we keep seeing people need to hand them over to us. These are owners and veterinary prices only.
Scout was admitted to the Animal Welfare League on April 19. At 5 years old, your adoption fee is just $10 this weekend (plus refundable spay/neuter fee). Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.Blanchard said if the only reason a person is surrendering their cat or dog is because they can’t buy food right now because they’re unemployed, “we’re donating some of our food to help people so they can keep it at home.” instead of taking her to a shelter.”
Cost of living is the biggest issue, Lyon said.
Blanchard said they never got to a point where they couldn’t take a single animal, but now they can’t.
No more animals will be taken in now unless it is an absolute emergency. About six or seven wire crates have been brought to the shelter for emergency use. On Tuesday, animal control brought in six dogs from Syracuse and one from Milford during the very hot weather.
“That’s a big problem for us: It’s hot outside, we can’t say no,” she said, adding that when it’s too hot outside for a stray or lost dog, or when a kitten’s mother gets hit by a car, “how do you do that? Do you say no? There are stories. It’s sad. It breaks all of our hearts.”
AWL serves the entire county, from Syracuse and Leesburg in the north, to Mentone and Silver Lake in the south, and everywhere in between.
Companies like DePuy-Synthes and Zimmer Biomet have supported the shelter, Blanchard said. Employees will come and walk the dogs. Volunteers can help walk the dogs, which they love. Behind the building is an area where dogs can be walked, including trails and watering holes.
A senior dog room was converted to make room for a mother cat and her kittens. The cat silo currently houses about nine kittens, where there would normally be four or five. The cat rooms that recently had kittens are all filled with mother cats and their little ones.
The shelter had three pregnant cats as of Thursday, according to Sydney, an employee. The kittens range in age from 2 weeks to 2 to 4 months. There are a few that are 9 weeks old and are available for adoption this weekend.
“We have a wide variety now,” she said.
One cat has had a litter of seven kittens in the past two weeks, while three other cats at the Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County are pregnant. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.This weekend, AWL plans to stay open Friday and Saturday as people come in to adopt.
Normal opening hours are from 11:30 am to 5:00 pm, Tuesday to Friday, and from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm, on Saturdays.
“The team has committed that as long as there are people here and they want to catch some animals, we will be here. We need them to be in the homes,” Blanchard said.
AWL will be at PetSmart from 10am to 2pm on Saturday with some cats up for adoption as well. There will be special prices there too.
The Animal Welfare League, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is located at 1048 S. CR 325E in Pierceton. Its phone number is 574-267-3008, and its website address can be found at www.awlwarsaw.com.
An Amazon wish list for the shelter can be found at www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/37W211HLLXIJR/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex
