Crisis Leaves Animals Without Home

An Enterprise no-kill shelter is too full and having to send abandoned pets to other shelters, where they are euthanized after ten days.

"We are the only no-kill animal shelter in Coffee County," said Bill Brooks, the president of the Save Our Strays animal shelter board of directors. "Our job is to take in unwanted dogs and cats. Sometimes they are lost, but most of the time they have just been abandoned. We have them spayed or neutered and place them up for adoption in what we hope is their forever home."

Since S.O.S. is a no-kill shelter, it can only accept as many animals as it can hold and it has reached its full capacity.

"For some reason, people seem to think that tying an animal up to our fence is going to ensure that their dog or cat is going to be accepted in our facility," said Brooks. "Unfortunately right now it's just impossible, so we are forced to call animal control."

Dogs and cats sent to other shelters will end up being humanely euthanized seven to ten days after arriving, unless they are adopted.

Brooks said he wishes animals wouldn't have to be euthanized, and the shelter is working to keep it from happening too often.

"(People should) call us, and sometimes we can take a dog in, after waiting a couple of days. Other times we have asked people to keep a dog for a week until we are able to make room for them. But there are no guarantees," said Brooks.

The shelter hopes that renovations to its building will increase the amount of animals it can take in, but as the walls rise, so does the number of abandoned pets.

If more people become foster families, then the shelter won't have to turn away abandoned animals.

If you want to become a foster family for dogs or cats brought to the shelter, give them a call.

To reach the S.O.S. shelter, call 393-1743.