The staff at the Stafford County Animal Shelter issued a plea for help: The shelter is full of animals surrendered by their owners, so please consider adopting.
The shelter posted to Facebook:
With a very heavy heart we have to say that our last adoptable dog kennel was just taken by another owner surrender. We have no more room ? We are the only open admissions Animal Shelter in the area and we are running out of resources.
Unfortunately, we have not had one serious inquiry about anyone even wanting to foster any of our adult dogs either.
We are asking everyone to please exhaust all your options before surrendering your dog to us. Can you hold onto it a little while longer? Do you have a friend or a family member who could take the dog? Have you reached out to rescues?
We are also asking you to be responsible pet owners. Please spay and neuter your pets. Not only does it help with overpopulation, it also has many other benefits.
We are looking for adopters and fosters (at this time you have to be a Stafford County resident to foster from us). There are reasons for this so please no negative comments, we would like to concentrate on finding some homes for these babies. We need help. We are desperate. Please link on the link below to see all the adoptable dogs in our shelter. Please call us at 540-658-7387.
When the ribbon was cut for the new $5 million animal shelter on June 19, 2018, we learned there are 38 dog kennels for adoption and stray hold; there are 12 kennels for observation and six kennels for isolation. There are also 12 small breed/puppy kennels.
For cats, there are 44 stray hold cages, six for observation and six for isolation. Five cat apartments can house a varied number of cats depending on temperament, but an average of five in the smaller apartments and up to 10 in the larger apartment. The condo area has six towers that can house multiple cats each.
There is medical space that is unoccupied at this time with plans for the future. There are separate isolation areas for cats and dogs.
In 2017, there were 183 dogs euthanized at the shelter. The shelter averages ten dogs per month which are owners who request euthanasia (the majority), and the remainder are either court-ordered, temperamentally or sick/injured beyond treatment. A total of 284 cats were euthanized in 2017 and were, again, owner’s request, sick or injured beyond treatment or feral and unadoptable.
The Animal Shelter is located past the Rowser Building and Rappahannock Regional Jail at 26 Frosty Lane.
