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Shelter struggling to become no-kill
Looking for a good home
Heidi Murrin/Tribune-Review
Butterball
Heidi Murrin/Tribune-Review
Labrador retriever male mix
Heidi Murrin/Tribune-Review
The shelter is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Mondays.
For more information about adopting a pet or serving as a foster home, call the shelter at (412) 661-6452 or visit the Web site at www.animalrescue.org
Tony LaRussa can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7987.
"We started this past weekend at full capacity," said Charlotte Grimme, the executive director of the shelter on Hamilton Avenue. "And while we had about 29 pets adopted on Saturday and Sunday, we had 26 pets come in, so we are by no means out of the woods."
Having a steady stream of people coming in to adopt pets is even more critical since the nonprofit organization announced in March that it was working toward becoming a no-kill shelter by 2005, which means no adoptable animals are destroyed.
It's been about a year since the shelter has had to destroy a healthy animal, Grimme said. There are about 50 cats and 50 dogs available for adoption. The shelter also is seeking homes for several rabbits.
Grimme said problems with the shelter's telephone system may have contributed to the recent decrease in the number of people coming in to adopt pets.
"Saturday is usually our busiest day, but it was pretty slow this week," Grimme said. "I'm sure we had a number of people who called to make sure we were open but couldn't get through. We are working on correcting that problem."
Spring and summer typically are when the largest number of pets come into the shelter because that is when most births occur, said Gwen Snyder, the shelter's director of development.
"It's not uncommon for people to drop off entire litters of puppies and kittens," Snyder said. "When we reach maximum capacity, we send the pets to foster homes, but as with anything, there are a limited number of people who are willing to serve in that capacity."
The shelter has about 100 foster homes. The shelter also operates a kennel called Rosedale in Verona that can handle 50 dogs, but that facility cannot take pets from the shelter because it is fully booked for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
"Our hope is that people who have been contemplating adopting a dog or cat will do so now," Grimme said. "With most people having a three-day holiday this weekend, it would be a great chance to have a little extra time to get acquainted with their new pet."
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