Special to Iredell Free News

Iredell County Animal Services is entering its busiest season of the year and is asking for the public’s help as it relates to owner surrender requests and stray intakes.

The facility is at capacity and had to shut down dog-intake twice in May as a result with no end in sight.

Much-needed and required repair work is scheduled during June on 40 of the shelter’s 66 kennels.

“As a result of our shelter population count coupled with this upcoming repair, we ask for the community’s understanding, patience, advocacy and assistance in both continuing to care for the owned dogs they intend to surrender, as well as any strays they may find,” the staff said in a news release.

“We are experiencing an all-time high volume of owner surrender requests for dogs and we are not finding much relief in moving these dogs through either adoptions or rescues at this time, as rescues are also being inundated and seeing reduced adoption numbers.”

Once a dog leaves the shelter, the kennel in which they inhabited is immediately filled with the next dog. For every one dog at the shelter, there are at least 10 more dogs waiting for that same kennel.

How can you help?

For those looking to surrender their dogs:
♦ For those owners who are currently on the shelter’s waiting list to surrender their dog, try to rehome their dog and not rely solely on Animal Services.
♦ Reach out to friends, family, social media, take your dog to highly attended dog-friendly activities and “market” your dog to find their new family. There are many websites/pages made specifically for this purpose.
♦ If you are able to keep your dog or work out a way to avoid surrendering, this is the best option for both your dog and the shelter. Please look at every potential scenario possible to keep your dog in their home, at least until there is space at the shelter. 
♦ If there are minimal barriers that you are facing in order to keep your dog in the home, whether it be food or you need a crate or other minimal needs such as this, let Animal Services know. The staff will do their best to help you to keep your dog in your home. 

For those who find stray dogs:
♦ Please work to find the dog’s owner in the exact place in which you found the dog, going door to door and asking neighbors. Chances are, someone knows something. Please make sure to stay safe while doing so.
♦ If you can’t find the owner and the dog has no ID tag with contact information, please take the dog to a local vet’s office to be scanned for a microchip or bring to Animal Services to scan. Once you have done this, if you are able to keep the dog until the owner is found, please do so.
♦ File a found report with the shelter and keep that animal until either the owner comes forward or there is space available for the animal.
♦ Stray animals always take precedence over owned animals, and the staff must try to keep space open for those truly homeless animals in need.

LEARN MORE

If you have questions or would like further information, email volunteer@iredellcountync.gov