Story Created:
Aug 20, 2007 at 4:47 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Aug 22, 2007 at 7:12 PM EDT
(WSBT) Too many animals and not enough space — that's the problem facing the Elkhart County Humane Society.
This week, they're trying to get those overcrowded animals new homes.
But that's just a temporary solution as they work to expand.
Dustin Waits and his family stopped off at the Elkhart County Humane Society. They heard about the program where they can adopt an animal at a reduced price, and had hopes of giving a new home to one of the dogs being kept there.
“We heard about the adopt-a-thon […] so I thought maybe [we’d] come out and take a look and see what kind of dogs they had if there's one that we fell in love with, we might get,” Waits told WSBT News.
In all, the shelter has about 115 animals it would like to put up for adoption now — everything from dogs, to cats, to bunnies, and even a pig and a goat.
"We will operate a 24 hour a day program to where we will stay open until every animal in the building is adopted,” explained Eric Durcinka, Elkhart County Humane Society’s director.
The program is a way to help alleviate overcrowding at the shelter, at least for a little while.
"Most people don't understand that we are usually operating at maximum capacity,” said Durcinka. “Just as an example, a day like yesterday we were taking in almost 30 cats in one day, and then that's not even including the dogs.”
It’s because of those problems of not having enough room and more animals being brought in that they shelter is moving ahead with plans for a new, expanded home. It already has the land for it, near County Road 18 and 17.
"It’s important that we do grow,” Durcinka told WSBT News. “It’s shown every day that the needs are definitely growing."
The shelter is reducing its normal adoption fee from $150 to $75. Included in that reduced price is the first set of shots, heart worm tests for dogs, and implanting an identification micro-chip in the animal.
Animal Adoption Blitz: Elkhart County Humane Society
Adoption Fee Reduction: from $150 to $75
Includes:
- First Set of Shots
- Heart Worm Test Dogs
- I.D. Micro-Chip Implant
