It’s winter time, when the number of cats and dogs ending up at animal shelters is lower than normal. But that’s not the case right now, as the shelter at Pasco County Animal Services is overcapacity with dogs.
Because of that, the shelter is waiving adoption fees on selected animals for the remainder of November.
“It’s hit a critical point,” animal services manager Mike Shumate said, in a release. “We came through the summer months with good community support. We need the community to rally around its shelter again to help save a few more lives.”
Dogs that have been abandoned by their owners, or are simply stray, continue to drive up intake numbers at animals shelters across Florida, officials said. It’s got to the point where some shelters are restricting the number of animals they’ll accept.
“We really need pet owners to be more responsible,” Shumate said. “When that cute puppy grows up, it needs to be cared for by the family that adopted it, and not put out on the street or turned in at a shelter. Pets should be adopted for life.”
The local shelter is on a program with a goal of saving 90 percent of its animals. However, that becomes far more complicated when families just aren’t there to adopt, and when others give up on their animals to bring them to an already overcrowded shelter.
“We don’t want to euthanize adoptable animals,” said Shivana Sismilich, the shelter’s adoption coordinator, in a release. “We want our community to come to the shelter first when they consider a new pet. These dogs and cats need Pasco families to save them.”
The shelter is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 6:30 p.m., and closed Sundays and Mondays. It’s located at 19460 Dogpatch Lane in Land O’ Lakes.
For information, call (813) 929-1212, or visit PascoCountyfl.net/PAS.
