The Clark County Dog Shelter, located at 5201 Urbana Road in Springfield, has been at max-capacity for the last two months, said Clark County Dog Warden Sandi Click.
Click’s office saw an all-time high for dogs retrieved in 2021: 817 dogs. So far this year, 428 dogs have been retrieved, a figure on pace to break last year’s record.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
This week, nearly 50 dogs are at the shelter. As of Thursday this month, a total of 37 dogs entered the shelter. In the same time frame, five dogs have been adopted, 14 were returned home, one was taken to a rescue and six were euthanized, according to county data.
The dog warden said her office is having to euthanize animals for space.
“When you have this many dogs here, it isn’t just a matter of having food or even having kennel space,” Click said. “You have to have the staff to maintain the dogs: they need to be cleaned up after, cared for.”
The county’s shelter receives calls on a daily basis from people wanting to surrender their pets, Click said. Her employees, too, encounter many owners who refuse to retrieve their pets from the shelters.
Many factors contribute to the influx of dogs to the shelter: a lack of research on the needs of specific breeds, as one factor.
The bulk of dogs at the shelter — and the predominant dog breed in the city of Springfield and throughout Clark County — are animals that fall under the generic term of pit bull terrier or pit-mix, Click said. These dogs have a higher energy and prey drive than other breeds and require more exercise.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
“Dogs are being adopted out and brought back or taken out and abandoned because [owners] are in over their heads and they don’t realize the amount of commitment it takes,” she said.
The pivot back to in-person work following COVID-19 lockdown and national economic strain are also contributing.
Click said local dog rescues running pet food pantries have voiced to her office that they have “constant, never-ending demand” for dog food as the cost of it and other necessities continues to rise.
The dog warden said the shelter operates 365 days per year regardless of holidays and weather closures, as someone needs to be on-site to care for the dogs at the shelter.
Her office employs three full-time employees, including herself, and two part-time employees who take turns covering weekends. The county’s dog shelter, too, has two full-time employees and three part-time people.
“We have staff here, but we can’t give them as many hours as we’d like,” Click said.
The budget is funded through dog license purchases.
She said the best thing people can do for dogs at the shelter is make sure they stay-up-to-date on their dog licenses or purchase licenses for friends who don’t have them for their pets.
Although donations of dog food, other supplies and cash are valuable, they don’t contribute to the salaries of workers.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
“That money goes directly to the dog and kennel fund, and the dog and kennel fund is what pays for salaries,” she said.
Dog licenses are available for purchase through the Clark County Auditor’s Office.
The shelter is also in constant need of volunteers. People interested in helping the dog shelter can contact the Clark County personnel office at 937-521-2015.
The federal relief to cover the staffing costs is part of the $26 million allocated to Clark County from the $1.9 trillion ARPA that President Joe Biden signed into law in March. A total of $350 billion was allocated to help local governments across the country reeling from pandemic impact.
The Clark County commission has allocated the funding to several projects and services, including reimbursement to the general fund for pandemic-related losses in revenue, construction projects, upgrades and planning for the Clark County Emergency Management Agency and jobs to coordinate the county’s reentry service program and community gardens, among other items.
About the Author
