Population crisis hits local shelter

When July arrives, the Flathead County Animal Shelter usually sees a spike in dog and cat populations — but this summer the numbers have reached staggering proportions with little relief in August.

Director Cliff Bennett said the shelter has about 80 dogs and 80 cats as the month comes to a close.

“We’re maxed out at 55 of each,” he said. “We have terrible overcrowding.”

He said the shelter peaked in July with 98 dogs, then got the numbers down through adoption programs.

Then the numbers climbed again.

“We thought we were gaining a little ground,” he said. “In the first of August we got down to 70 dogs.”

According to Bennett, the animal warden has received a large number of calls to round up strays. Most of the dogs have no collars and haven’t been microchipped for identification, but he said the animals look like someone has been caring for them.

On Tuesday, the shelter even had two puppies. One was very small — obviously someone’s pet — but no one had called to claim it.

“It’s a great little dog — a little scared,” he said. “The bigger puppy is a chocolate Lab that came in today.”

Cats have arrived at an even faster pace. Bennett said people bring in boxes full of kittens.

Others trap feral cats and bring them to the shelter. These wild cats pose a real challenge for the low-kill facility.

“No one wants those” as a pet, he said. “No one can get near them.”

Bennett said some people take the spayed and neutered feral cats to live in their barns for rodent control. He said they do fine with food and the barn for protection in cold weather.

Along with the feral cats, kittens and stray dogs, the shelter continues to receive a barrage of pets surrendered by owners due to the lingering bad economy.

“People have lost their job or their house or had to move where the landlord won’t let them have a pet,” Bennett said.

To cope with the population boom, the director said the shelter built new outside kennels and doubled up or even tripled tenants in cages while working harder than ever to encourage adoptions. With the large population, the public has a vast choice of dogs to consider adopting.

 Bennett listed black Labs, yellow Labs, German shepherd crosses, young dogs, old dogs and big dogs, but not many small dogs. Small dogs go quickly, especially with the new Chipper Smallville facility in the shelter to isolate them from the bigger dogs.

“It shows them better,” Bennett said. “It’s better for them, too.”

Visitors sometimes get a poor first impression of the larger dogs. Because they see people only twice a day for exercise and for feeding, the dogs jump up and down and bark with excitement when a human enters their compound.

Bennett said it intimidates some people, so staffers encourage potential adoptive owners to take a dog out on a leash.

“We have great dog walking areas,” he said. “A lot of people have a dog or cat and are looking for a companion. They can bring them here and test out to see if they are compatible.”

He said the shelter has a “foster to adopt” program that allows people to take a dog or cat home for a few days or a few weeks on a trial basis. With this program, people find out how the animal responds to a normal home environment and any existing pets.

According to Bennett, the staff tells everything they know about a pet’s past history — even the bad news like a dog with a history of attacking cats.

“We’re brutally honest,” he said.

He points out that people receive many benefits from adopting from the shelter. Adopted cats and dogs come spayed or neutered and have a microchip ID.

A veterinarian comes twice a week to address health needs within the shelter.

“You get a good dog or cat,” he said.

People who can’t take a pet but want to help have the option of volunteering their time. His dream is to find one person with enough time to coordinate all the volunteers to lift that responsibility from staff who have many other duties at the shelter.

The shelter also needs people who could come in and donate a few hours at the same time every week.

“That would be a big help,” he said.

If the crisis in overcrowding continues at the shelter, Bennett doesn’t foresee euthanizing healthy, adoptable dogs and cats because of space considerations. He expects the onset of winter to slow the population growth.

“For now, we’ll see what happens as we get into fall,” he said. “If it’s inhumane to have the number we’re faced with, we’ll go to the county commissioners and ask to build more space.”

Visitors may go to the shelter Tuesday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, check the shelter website at www.flathead.mt.gov/animal.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.