'Shelter Partners' provides help for stray dogs

Jazmund Walker, Contributor
Published On: 06/23/2008

Since 2006 the Shelby Humane Society’s program, Shelter Partners, has been actively working to solve central Alabama’s problem of stray pets. Volunteers for the shelter drive dogs 24 hours to partnering animal shelters in New Hampshire where the dog population is considerably lower than that of central Alabama.

“Overpopulation of cats and dogs is prevalent in our state and much of the South,” said Shelby Humane Society’s Director of Development Erin Melaney. “Pet owners are not obligated to fix their pets and many choose not to have the surgeries done.”

“Some areas, like the state of New Hampshire, have seen huge success in lowering their stray and unwanted pet populations by instituting mandatory pet licensing,” she said. “The pet licenses support spay/neuter because the annual license fee for a pet that’s fixed is considerably less than the fee for a pet that’s not.”

“People have an incentive to get the surgery done early on in a pet’s life,” Melaney said. “Further, the money generated by the licenses goes toward making spay/neuter affordable.”

Shelby Humane Society volunteer, Jenifer Wallis, has assisted in saving the lives of 56 dogs since participating in two trips for the Shelter Partners program.

“Volunteering to be a driver for the SCHS Shelter Partners trips is one of the most worthwhile endeavors I have undertaken,” said Wallis.

During one trip to New Hampshire, she and another driver ran into a few mishaps while transporting the dogs. Wallis found out exactly how much more volunteers are needed for a program like Shelter Partners.

“The first trip I tried to stop and let the dogs out for a ‘potty break’ somewhere around Pennsylvania,” said Wallis. “It was quickly apparent that unloading 23 excited dogs at a rest stop to be walked was way more of any undertaking than I anticipated. Plus, soon after we started unloading dogs it began to rain. The end result was that not all dogs were able to be walked, and we spent the rest of the trip feeling sorry for the dogs who weren’t among those walked.”
Amazingly, many people who are not directly involved in the effort find that they want to contribute to the cause.

“On both of my trips I have been touched by such gestures of kindness from complete strangers who understand the importance of what we’re doing and want to contribute to saving our furry passengers in any way they can,” said Wallis. “I am also always touched by the volunteers at the receiving shelters where we deliver the dogs. They always have a team of volunteers waiting for our arrival, ready to comfort the arriving dogs and get them settled.”

According to Wallis, the state of Alabama could take a lesson from New Hampshire when it comes to animal overpopulation.

“New Hampshire should be a model of how Alabama must handle its stray animal problem,” said Wallis. “It is unconscionable to euthanize thousands of healthy, adoptable dogs every year when stricter laws and enforcement of the laws we have would eventually rectify the problem.”

Alabama has a few initiatives, such as Spay Alabama, to assist pet owners with the cost of spay/neuter programs. Shelby Humane Society offers its own low-cost spay/neuter program, called Quick Fix.

“We facilitate subsidized surgeries as low as $15 for Shelby County citizens who receive income assistance,” said Melaney. “We also arrange low-cost surgeries from $35 to $65 for any area resident, not limited to Shelby County, and provide clinic transport to Alabama Animal Alliance, a low cost spay/neuter clinic in Montgomery.”

There are numerous ways in which the public can get involved with the cause.

“Support shelters by donating and adopting,” suggests Melaney. “It’s also crucial that everyone have their pets spayed or neutered.”

“Unwanted litters of puppies and kittens fill our shelter and others locally” said Melaney. “Some individuals are able to find homes for the puppies or kittens that their pets have. But, unless they are getting the animals fixed before they go to their new homes, there’s a good chance that the pets will contribute to the overpopulation later on.”

Email: smile9@uab.edu