A litter of seven puppies sits trapped in a bucket under the hot sun, unable to escape the heat. If a Clay County Animal Control officer hadn’t found them, things could have ended much worse for them.
Instead, these puppies are some of the “lucky ones,” as they arrived June 20 at the West Point Clay County Animal Shelter. At the shelter, they were treated for fleas and dehydration. The shelter then paired the pups with a mother dog to feed them milk.
Executive Director Neely Bryan said this litter’s story is just one of many she sees happening “all day, every day, everywhere,” as animal overpopulation is a “nationwide crisis.”
That problem is also being exacerbated by the summer heat.
“It’s awful out there,” Bryan said. “It’s apocalyptic, almost. No one can understand what we’re up against. Rescuers and shelters are in a complete state of overwhelm.”
Bryan said the shelter had at least 50 puppies on site Thursday morning, including the seven that were brought in a week ago. The shelter was holding 105 dogs total, along with 75 cats, when she spoke with The Dispatch.
The only way to lower those numbers, Bryan said, is to spay and neuter.
“Everywhere is full,” Bryan said. “You could spend all day calling every rescue or shelter in the state, of any state, and everybody’s going to have the same response, ‘We’re full.’”
Temperatures above 90 degrees over the past few weeks have led the National Weather Service to issue heat advisories in the Golden Triangle. Bryan said the heat increases animals’ suffering, when they are left outside or otherwise abandoned.
But when they reach the West Point shelter, dogs have access to water 24/7, including buckets of water with frozen Gatorade bottles in them to keep them cool. There are sprinklers on the shelter’s rooftops to cool it and fans everywhere. Volunteers also fill pools for dogs that are outside, so the dogs can lower their body temperatures.
Shelter volunteers are also trying to stay hydrated and healthy, Bryan said, and they work in “spurts” during hot days to avoid exhaustion.
Sarah Hankins, shelter manager for the Oktibbeha County Humane Society, said she has seen a few animals come in with “higher than normal temperatures,” but not any animals with heat stroke yet. Every summer, she said, those cases eventually come in.
“We have almost lost dogs,” Hankins said. “Last year, we almost lost a couple.”
Pets need shade, fresh drinking water, and to be brought inside during heat advisories, Hankins said. Dog houses are not adequate during heat advisories, as they can “become saunas.”
Once dogs are in the shelter, Hankins said, high heat procedures ensure they have constant access to water. The humane society’s kennel area is also sprayed down regularly, and dogs are kept inside during the times when heat is highest. Walks are shortened during those times, to prevent dogs from overheating.
On Thursday, Hankins said, OCHS had about 300 animals in its care, with about 200 in the shelter itself. She said the humane society’s intake numbers have been “way higher” than normal lately, including litters, strays, surrenders and more.
“We always need to promote spay and neuters,” Hankins said.
Trudy McDanell, shelter manager for the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society, said the shelter has not seen more litters of animals than it expected this summer, but they are arriving constantly. The shelter is not at capacity, but it is close, with 100 dogs and cats in its care.
Some animals that the shelter has seen have come in dehydrated, McDanell said. Shelter workers try to give those animals access to water as quickly as possible, in those cases, to give the animals the best chance of recovery.
“You have to really act fast, because once they dehydrate, their kidneys start shutting down,” McDanell said. “It doesn’t matter how much you try. You still try, but people have done the damage.”
Animal Control officers work with pet owners in the county to recommend ways to keep animals safe, McDanell said, like moving animals into the shade and giving them fresh water. These simple changes reduce the number of cases the shelter sees, she said.
“Sometimes that 5 or 10 degrees makes all the difference in the world,” McDanell said.
Cats are kept indoors at the Lowndes shelter, while dogs are kept in an outdoor kennel area. These dogs are kept under shade, McDanell said, with constant access to water, along with air coolers, cooling mats and more.
All three animal shelters expressed needs for more fosters for puppies and kittens, along with other needs for supplies.
For more information on how to adopt or foster animals from local shelters, visit the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society website at clhumanesociety.org, the Oktibbeha County Humane Society website at ochsms.org, or West Point Clay County Animal Shelter’s website at wpccas.org.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 45 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
