During Memorial Day weekend, the Idaho Humane Society was at full capacity, with no more space for incoming animals on the adoption floor.
After a big adoption day on Wednesday, a few more spaces were opened up. But the shelter is still close to capacity and looking to find homes for many of its four-legged friends. Especially the ones that have been there a while.
“We’re just trying to get a bunch of dogs adopted quickly,” Idaho Humane Society Digital Media Assistant Laurien Mavey said. “That way we can help out other shelters.”
The Humane Society has transfer programs set up with other shelters in Idaho. If it has room, it will also help out shelters in places like Texas and Louisiana, as previously reported by the Idaho Press.
Summer season
Kristine Schellhaas, the Humane Society’s public relations and digital media manager, said that while the shelter receives owner-surrendered pets year-round, it primarily sees an uptick in May through August.
“People tend to relocate in the summer, and with the current housing crisis here in the Treasure Valley, renters have been having more difficulties finding affordable, pet-friendly housing,” Schellhaas said in an email.
Around July, the Humane Society also sees an uptick in strays from dogs getting scared of fireworks that go off around Independence Day.
Quick turn-around
Mavey said most of the time, the dogs at the shelter will be adopted within about 24-48 hours. For cats, it’s usually about 72 hours. According to Schellhaas, last year the Humane Society adopted out an average of 122 pets a week.
On the adoption floor, the shelter has 42 dog kennels, but it can host multiple dogs in the kennels at a time depending on size and if the dogs came from the same household or are puppies of the same litter.
The in-take center has 136 kennels.
“These consistent adoption numbers are so important to our mission, each adoption means that we can help another pet in need,” Schellhaas said.
Long-term animals
But there are some “long-termers.”
Usually the long-termers are bigger or older dogs and have certain restrictions a family has to meet, like not having any other animals at their house or being a kid-free home, Mavey said. But occasionally, there will be an animal that has no restrictions and the shelter employees can’t put a finger on why it’s not getting adopted.
To read the rest of the story, and learn more about the “long-termers” at the shelter, on Idaho Press’s website.