WEST VIRGINIA ANIMAL SHELTER CLOSES, LEAGUE COLLECTS DOGS WITH NOWHERE ELSE TO GO

July 27, 2011

The Washington Animal Rescue League (the League) drove to Fairmont, West Virginia, to pick up stray and abandoned dogs who are scheduled to become homeless again when the shelter where they are staying closes on August 1. That shelter has been run under a local government contract for the past year by the Marion County Humane Society, but they recently lost the contract and use of the county facility. The League picked up 9 dogs and 5 cats for transfer. The Marion County Humane Society plans to move the remaining 90 dogs and 115 cats to other rescue groups and another, smaller facility that they own.

“Animals lose their homes all the time, of course.  And it’s always a very sad thing,” notes League President and CEO Dr. Gary Weitzman.  “But these poor dogs have lost their homes at least twice: They lost their original homes when they were surrendered or got lost. And now they’ve lost their temporary home at the shelter in Fairmont. Our mission mandates that we rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home animals who have nowhere else to go, and these dogs certainly qualify.  Now we’ll find them permanent homes where they will be cherished family members for the rest of their lives. That’s what they have been waiting for. Some of them have been waiting for that most of their lives.  But the wait will soon be over.”

While in West Virginia, the League team also picked up 12 dogs at a shelter in Buckhannon, West Virginia, which had run out of space and was facing the prospect of euthanizing adoptable dogs. Among the dogs were two 6-week-old puppies who had been dropped into the shelter’s overnight collection box and found there the next morning.

Although it never euthanizes animals for lack of space or length of stay, the League itself is now at capacity.  Last week, it took in 15 cats and 5 dogs rescued from a hoarding situation in Gloversville, New York, by the American SPCA.

The League anticipates that some of the West Virginia dogs arriving today could be available for adoption in two weeks’ time.