Surge in adoptions saves dozens of dogs from euthanization at Blackfoot Animal Shelter
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BLACKFOOT — When Linda Larsen first saw Simon, the white terrier dog was sitting right in front of his cage door.
Larsen was at the Blackfoot Animal Shelter, looking for a new animal to adopt, and Simon caught her eye.
“Oh my gosh, what a cute little dog,” Larsen said.
“Would you like to hold him?” the shelter employee asked her.
Larsen told her yes, and when they handed Simon to her, he melted into her arms.
“So, I know that I was supposed to get this cute little white dog,” Larsen told EastIdahoNews.com.
Larsen, like many others, had seen the animal shelter’s announcement on Facebook on Sept. 26 stating that, due to sheer overcapacity, the shelter would have to euthanize around 20 dogs. The Facebook post said they had decided to give these dogs until Sept. 30 before they were euthanized. The post received over 1,100 reactions.
Amanda Cevering, Executive Director of the Blackfoot Animal Shelter, said they knew they would receive backlash, but they posted about the issue because they didn’t want to keep it hidden from the public.
“We like to be very transparent, and we’d like for everybody to know that that is a reality,” Cevering said. “That is what happens in every shelter, regardless of whether they post it or not. It is what happens.”
In the day-and-a-half before they “put a plea out,” they had received around 11 new dogs in their shelter, which put them “way” over their capacity limit. Employees were forced to keep dogs in their outdoor kennels.
They were keeping over 60 animals in the shelter.
Cevering said before employees made their announcement, they cried and tried to figure out anything else they could do other than euthanizing the animals, just like they do every time they have to make this difficult choice.
“Unfortunately, people think that working at an animal shelter is all rainbows and butterflies, but it’s not,” Cevering said.
But as more and more people heard the news, more people came to the Blackfoot Animal Shelter looking for forever pets.
“The public answered our plea,” Cevering said.
In the last four days, the shelter has adopted out over 30 dogs (and counting) to new homes. The shelter’s population now stands at about 22 dogs and 15 cats as of Sept. 29.
Even though huge numbers of animals have been adopted from the shelter, the shelter still needs people to come in and find their forever pets.
“It’s a revolving door,” Cevering said. “There’s always new ones coming in.”
RELATED | Many Idaho animal shelters are operating at full capacity
To meet demand, they need more people to come in and adopt, but they also need donations so they can have a new shelter with expanded capacity. The shelter operates as a nonprofit, so it relies on donations. Interested people can donate on their website.
Cevering urged people with the capacity to care for an animal to come to the Blackfoot Shelter and adopt or go to their local shelter.
“If you’re not local, your shelter is full as well,” Cevering said.
Larsen adopted Simon on the morning of Sept. 29. In her nearly 78 years of life, she’s been an avid animal owner, taking care of around 10 to 12 dogs. She had to put her most recent dog to sleep two months ago.
“And I have been very, very lonely,” Larsen said. Her husband works 12 hours a day, so her children urged her to find another pet.
When Larsen saw the shelter’s post, she was, “sick to my stomach.”
“Why are people dropping off all these dogs? And then there are still people that are raising puppies from their dogs,” Larsen said. “I think it’s wrong to have these puppy mills where people are trying to make money off of their dogs and then they don’t take care of them.”
Larsen said Simon was brought to the shelter from Orange County, California, where he was found, “wandering in the streets.” When she called her daughter and showed her Simon, she said, “That is the cutest dog I have ever seen.”
“He’s got such a nice temperament,” Larsen said. “So we’re both just very happy to be together.”
And in the afternoon as Larsen and Simon sit out on her front porch enjoying a cool fall day, she hopes that they’re together until the end.