DALTON, Ga. — The young golden retriever stared ahead, his tail limp. Unlike a few of the strays barking and wagging their tails, the quiet golden’s owners had left him at the Whitfield County Animal Shelter — where he was likely killed.
“We just have a job to do,” shelter Director Don Garrett said. “You can’t afford to be too emotional.”
The suffering economy has forced the shelter to euthanize more abandoned or surrendered dogs, Mr. Garrett said. Every day, he fields calls from dog owners who can’t pay for pet food, or who must move and can’t take their pets.
Some pet owners explain that their hours have been cut, or that they have lost their jobs. In Dalton, the number of new unemployment claims jumped 31 percent between March and April, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.
“When the economy is down,” Mr. Garrett explained, “people get rid of their dogs.”
The majority of the dogs — more than 100 a week — are euthanized. “Give-aways” are killed at the first opportunity, while strays have five days for their owners to claim them.
“When their time is up,” Mr. Garrett said, “they go one of two ways: the landfill or the Humane Society.”
The Humane Society of Northwest Georgia routinely rescues animals for its 35-dog “no kill” adoption facility. But that facility can only rescue a few dogs a week; last year, they saved a total of 165 dogs from the landfill.
In recent weeks, the local Humane Society has only taken three or four of the 100 dogs killed.
Their adoption rates are down, explained Rita Burrows, the volunteer kennel manager.
She said it’s depressing work, visiting the shelter and seeing dozens of dogs for which the shelter just doesn’t have space. Still, she said, “It’s the best, most rewarding thing I’ve ever worked with.”
Around the U.S., animal shelters are seeing increases. Nancy Peterson, of the Humane Society of the United States, said the foreclosure crisis could be partly to blame. “It can be a ... a challenge to find pet-friendly housing,” she said.
In Whitfield County, the common excuse of “moving” could be code for foreclosure, she said.
“That would be kind of embarrassing or humiliating,” she said, “to say, ‘I’ve been foreclosed.’”
The Humane Society of the United States offers tips on its Web site for finding pet-friendly housing, and for cutting back on pet costs. Dalton veterinarian Chris Stearns encourages clients to be open about financial problems.
Dr. Stearns will try to balance the pets’ needs with the owner’s finances. “We have got to try to take care of the pets, but ... in hard economic times,” he said, “those decisions become a little more complicated.”
