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ELEVEN MILE CORNER — When the Pinal County Animal Care and Control Center first received a photo of a pit bull named Lady, the staff thought it was photoshopped.
"(Lady) was so emaciated," Director Audra Michael said.
But upon meeting her, they were stunned to find that there was no editing involved: she was frail, and her bones were clearly outlined under her skin. At two years old, Lady
weighed just 27 pounds when she should have been at least 50.
Now, Michael said, she's up to 70 pounds and "a very happy girl."
And like many other animals in the shelter, Lady is looking for a home.
“We’re really, really, really full right now,” Michael said. “It seems like when we get 20 animals out, 30 animals (come) in.”
There are 344 animals — 270 dogs and 74 cats — at the shelter now, and “pretty much all of them” are up for adoption. The Pinal County Animal Care and Control Center only has 167 dog runs, putting it more than 100 animals over capacity.
Michael said that although summer — a common breeding time for animals — is usually busy, this is not normal.
Last month alone, she said 400 animals were brought into the shelter. Of those, just under 100 were owner surrenders — 48 dogs and 49 cats — and the rest were strays. “It’s not an ideal situation,” Michael said, but the staff has to put four or five animals in each kennel at a time.
“We’re trying our best to be a no-kill facility,” she said. “We don’t want to euthanize any healthy, adoptable animals. The community can definitely help us.”
For the remainder of the month, the Animal Care and Control Center will offer adoptions at less than half the normal cost: Dogs one year or older may be adopted at $50 instead of the typical $140, and a cat one year or older may be adopted at $25, down from $65.
Michael urges pet owners — and hopefully soon-to-be pet owners — to spay or neuter their dogs and cats, citing that as a possible reason for the abundance of strays.
Pet owners end up with “puppies, and don’t know what to do with them. … (The animals) start roaming the streets and start reproducing” rather than being brought to the shelter due to the common misconception, Michael speculated, that many animals brought there end up euthanized.
And even when people do bring their pets to shelters, it doesn’t mean it will be easy for the animal to find a home.
“It’s a sad reality. … We get it so often all day long,” Michael said. “(Owners say) ‘they’re a great dog, they’re a great cat, they’re an awesome pet …’ But 50 other people” came in and said the same thing. “It gets pretty hard.”
To promote adoptions, Animal Care and Control staff will be at the Casa Grande PetSmart in The Promenade at Casa Grande today and Saturday with some of the dogs and cats that are ready to find a new home.
“A lot of them have been here a really long time, some of them have been here since April,” Michael said. “I just really hope people can find a place in their home for some of these animals.”
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