Hand Dewald, Herald Staff Writer

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HALIFAX — While thousands of dogs live comfortable and happy lives with humans, many thousands more lead a miserable, short life and unfortunately, humans are to blame.

As President-elect Barack Obama searches shelters for a family pet, I recently found myself searching for a shelter that can take a wonderful, but unwanted pet.

“It is unfortunate, but only about one in 10 people are competent enough to give a dog a good home,” said Claudia Harrell, one of the volunteer leaders of Down East Animal Refuge (DEAR) in Scotland Neck. DEAR’s shelter is completely full and simply can’t take any more dogs. DEAR maintains a very long waiting list of people seeking to bring in unwanted dogs.

That fact was made all too clear recently when young Maggie, a 4-month-old Lab mix, was brought to me because I am known as a dog lover. The adopted owner, I say adopted because the dog chose her after being dropped off in the wilds outside of Jackson, was at wits’ end trying to find the dog a good home.

With a dog of her own and a couple of cats, it was all she could do to care for Maggie until she could find a home for her. She had Maggie de-wormed and given her first round of shots, which was really more than her adopted owner could afford, but she had it done anyway.

I made the mistake of telling the owner about DEAR, thinking they could take the dog. They are a “no kill” refuge, meaning none of their animals are euthanized because they can’t find them a home. I thought that with her shots and paperwork, DEAR could easily find Maggie a new home. I even volunteered to take Maggie there myself, since her adopted owner works two jobs and would not be able to make the trip from Jackson to Scotland Neck during business hours.

Not so fast, silly human. I discovered DEAR was in no position to take Maggie. They have a long waiting list that would make Maggie completely un-adoptable by the time they could take her. I was referred to Rainbow Rescue, another “no kill” organization.

Rainbow Rescue has no number available because, according to Harrell, they have too many dogs now. They too have a long waiting list. What happens to the dogs once they get into one of those systems, I have no idea. To a person like Maggie’s adopted owner or me, that is definitely something we would like to know before we drop off this loving dog.

We both imagined Maggie sitting in a cage with several other dogs. For how long we both wondered. For a dog like Maggie, who loves people, that would be terrible. She would be miserable. If you want to see miserable, go visit any local animal shelter. Maggie’s adopted owner and I believe any potential dog owner should have to make that visit.

I managed to find a neighbor, who was willing to let Maggie stay in her fenced yard, with her Labrador for the morning, while I worked. Her young, unspayed male loved it, but was just a little too aroused with the pretty young lab mix around, so Maggie came back home with me at lunchtime.

That also brings up the other serious problem the country faces with unwanted dogs and Harrell also expressed that too many dog owners do not have their animals spayed or neutered. (My neighbor wants to have their Labrador sire one litter of pups before they have him neutered and they have a fenced back yard. They are not part of the problem).

Meanwhile, I worked the phones, trying to find a place for Maggie. No answer at the Halifax County Animal Control and no one returned my calls. Calls to the Halifax County Manager’s office netted the number for the Health Department. “I think they handle that sort of thing,” said the person answering the phone

I was finally directed to the Halifax County Animal Shelter on Dog Pound Road, just outside Halifax. “Go past the old Animal Shelter, to the second building on the right. The old building is occupied by the Halifax County Humane Society, but there is usually no one there because they are all volunteers,” said the voice on the other end of the line.

Again, the thoughts of Maggie sitting in a cage awaiting execution were just too much to bear. A co-worker offered to keep her for three days, until a new owner could be found. That raised my spirits and may have bought Maggie a reprieve, but the real problem is far from a solution.

Harrell called me back later that afternoon, wondering how my predicament was going. She is an example of people at their best, who see the results of people at their worst every day. She and her compadres at DEAR all have far too many dogs at their homes because they feel the same way Maggie’s adopted owner and I do. They care.

Ditto for the folks at Rainbow Rescue. They have taken in all the dogs they possibly can. Same for the people at the Halifax County Humane Society, who are doing all they can, too. All of these great people are just overwhelmed by humans that just don’t care enough to do what is right. They take in a puppy, never have it spayed or neutered and eventually dump it on the side of a desolate, lonely road once it becomes inconvenient to take care of it.

“This is a constant, constant problem everywhere,” said Harrell, “and people who start taking dogs in, end up taking them to their homes also. I have five at my house. Another member has eight and another, seven. We didn’t want them put down because they were too good. It’s pitiful.”

By the numbers—

Statistics say a lot and the numbers from animalworldnetwork.com are staggering:

• An estimated 52 million dogs and 57 million cats live with U.S. families.

• For every human born, seven puppies and kittens are born.

• One female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats in seven years.

• One female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in six years.

• More than 12 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters each year. Millions more are abandoned in rural and urban areas.

• Approximately 61 percent of all dogs entering shelters are killed.

• Approximately 75 percent of all cats entering shelters are killed.