Stray dogs becoming a bigger problem

Officer Chris Miller isn’t an evil cartoon dog catcher coming to snatch away pets from loving homes.

“That’s the image that most people get of the dog catcher, and that’s not the case,” Miller said. “We’re here for the safety of the residents.”

Miller, along with fellow Ardmore animal control officer Joe Pickens, fulfills a necessary role in the City of Ardmore, helping to control the pet population as the number of strays steadily increases.

Statistics from Ardmore Animal Care Inc. Animal Shelter show the number of animals taken into the shelter has been rising since 2007.

In 2008, the shelter took in 7,426 animals, 57 percent of which were put down. The shelter is already up to 6,818 intakes this year.

“We’re past capacity,” shelter director Kim Lee said. “We always have more animals come in than we have homes for.”

The issue of unattended dogs was thrown into stark relief after a June 29 attack on an Ardmore woman by two pit bulls who escaped from their home and followed the woman into her home, attacking her and her pet schnauzer.

Robin Beal, City of Ardmore public information officer, attributes the number of unattended animals to ignorance of city leash laws.

“There are a significant number of people in town who are either unaware of the leash law, or they choose to ignore it,” Beal said.

“A lot of people grew up in a different era where leash laws weren’t as prolific as they are today.”
Officer Miller said that within the city limits a pet outside of a contained area, like a house or fenced in yard, must be on a chain or leash. The base fine for an animal-at-large citation is $60.

In between responding to calls, Miller patrols the streets of Ardmore, looking for stray animals and checking on those kept outside. He stops at homes where dogs are chained outside, making sure they have food and water they can reach.

“We’re not just out here for the safety of people,” Miller said. “We’re out here for the well-being of the animals too.”

Whenever he picks up a dog, Miller checks to see if it has tags. If there is an address or phone number, he immediately tries to contact the owner before taking the animal to the shelter. He said less than 50 percent of the animals he sees have collars and tags.

“It doesn’t cost more than $10 to get a collar and tag for your dog at Walmart,” Miller said.
Miller said the hardest thing is that he can’t save every dog.

“That’s the downside of this job, not being able to catch ’em knowing that it could be somebody’s pet. Some little kid’s looking for this dog and we weren’t able to catch it.”

However, Miller said that occasionally being able to reunite a family with their beloved pet makes it all worth it.

Those happy reunions, Lee said, are all too unlikely.

“It’s a known fact that an animal that runs loose does not have a very long lifespan,” Lee said.

When an owner is unable to be found, Miller has to take the animal to the local animal shelter, where the animal is eventually put up for adoption if no owner comes to redeem the animal. Lee says there’s no set time limit an animal can stay at the shelter before it is put down. She said the animals who are the “least healthy and least happy” are euthanized to make room for new intakes.

Lee urges pet owners not only to obey leash laws, but to have their animals spayed or neutered.

“The animal population is way out of control in our area,” Lee said.

What happens to animals at the shelter

YEAR         2003    2004   2005    2006     2007    2008    2009

Intakes       6,849  6,803  7,037   7,933    7,254   7,426   6,818

Dead
on arrival    501     191       92         35             1         1          1

Claimed      411     397     390       353         404     304      317

Died
in Shelter    347     355     550       675         288     310      341

Put
to sleep    3,422   3,881  4,139   4,403     4,147    4,385   3,610

Adopted    1,886   1,792  1,534  1,717      1,989   2,074   2,030

Statistics provided by Ardmore Animal Care Inc. Animal Shelter
 

phil.banker@ardmoreite.com
Phil Banker 221-6542