Shelter works to bring more dogs home for the holidays

Clark County Dog Warden Sandi Click looks at the name of the dogs that need sponsored at the Clark County Dog Shelter. People can sponsor the cost of a dog’s spay or neuter to lower the adoption cost for someone who is ready to bring one home. JENNA LAWSON/STAFF.

Clark County Dog Warden Sandi Click looks at the name of the dogs that need sponsored at the Clark County Dog Shelter. People can sponsor the cost of a dog’s spay or neuter to lower the adoption cost for someone who is ready to bring one home. JENNA LAWSON/STAFF.

Everyone wants to be home for the holidays — that includes those with four legs too.

The Clark County Dog Shelter is working to find more homes for the dogs it houses by launching a new program.

The Angel program allows people to sponsor a dog’s spay or neuter costs. That in turn, lowers the adoption price for someone who is ready to bring a dog home.

Clark County Dog Warden Sandi Click said the price of an adoption is usually around $200, but with the sponsorship program, that could drop to as low as $65 and greatly increase the chances of dogs being adopted.

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“The biggest expense with the adoption is typically the spay or neuter,” said Click. “We’re trying to amp up and do everything we can to get these dogs home for Christmas.”

Click said people can choose to sponsor the entire cost of the spay or neuter, which runs about $83-$138 depending on the sex and size of the dog — but they can also just sponsor part of the cost. She said anything helps.

In the lobby of the dog shelter, there’s a tree with the names of dog who can be sponsored, as well as the date they were brought into the shelter.

Anyone interested in sponsoring a dog can come into the shelter and take an ornament off of the tree — or simply call the shelter and ask how they can help.

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The program kicked off at the shelter last week, and Click said there had already been 10 sponsors, and some of those sponsored dogs ended up being adopted.

There were around 55 dogs at the shelter waiting for their next owner to come through the door last week.

“We really depend on the generosity of our community and they’ve been extremely supportive of us,” she said.

Click said the Angel program was planned to run through the beginning of the year, but she’d like to see it continue indefinitely.

The Clark County Dog Shelter is located at 5201 Urbana Road in Springfield.

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