Trish Bennett, Editor
CIRCLEVILLE – Dogs have been falling like autumn leaves into the county dog shelter this month, leaving its staff and resources strained beyond capacity.
The Wright-Poling Pickaway County Dog Shelter, located on Ringgold Southern Road, was built to accommodate 43 dogs, according to Marc Rogols, chief dog warden. As of Wednesday morning, the shelter is now housing 65 homeless dogs.
“I don’t know what happened, but for some reason they’re coming in faster than we can get them out,” Rogols said. “Last week alone, we took in 20 strays, and only had three adoptions and seven redemptions. That means there are at least 10 dogs here just in the past week whose owners aren’t looking for them.”
Rogols said life at the dog shelter is like a roller coaster with the population constantly going up and down, but he has never seen an “up” like this one during his tenure.
“We just keep shuffling them around,” he said. “They’re in cages and kennels wherever we can find room. They’re everywhere.”
At this point, Rogols said he does not intend to euthanize any animals simply because of space, but adoptions are needed quickly before such measures need to be considered.
“We intend to weather the storm, but it puts an enormous demand on our staff with kennel maintenance, cleaning and care of the dogs,” he said. “We’re also going through supplies faster than we can keep up with it, everything from dog food to bleach, all kinds of things.”
The adoption fee at the Wright-Poling Pickaway County Dog Shelter is $55, which includes a current dog tag. The adoption also comes with a certificate for the first visit to a local veterinarian and discounts for spaying or neutering if it has not already been done.
Rogols said the shelter also is looking for a foster home for a mother Lab and her six small puppies for about the next six or seven weeks, which would help alleviate some of the strain until the puppies are old enough to adopt.
In addition, donations of supplies would be welcomed, he said. Bleach and cleaning supplies are helpful, and any type of dry dog food is accepted.
Rogols said the shelter also needs supplies of canned dog food to supplement the diets of dogs coming in suffering from malnourishment.
“Anything people want to donate would be very helpful right now,” Rogols said. “But what we need most is people to come in and adopt.”
The dog shelter, located at 21253 Ringgold Southern Rd, can be reached by calling 740-474-3741. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
More information can be found on the county’s website or the dog shelter’s Facebook page.
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
