Pope County’s animal shelter at max capacity

By Melanie Stegner

news@pctribune.com

Domestic animal overpopulation is a real problem, and local animal shelter Pope County Humane Society is feeling the pressure. Animals keep needing homes, and homes are becoming hard to find. 

The pandemic created an environment where people were home more often, so they adopted pets. Meanwhile, shelters and rescues continued taking in animals at their normal rate and remained at capacity. As people have started to return to the workforce, the pet they adopted into their family is again surrendered to a shelter or rescue. 

This vicious circle has created overcrowded shelters with waiting lists a mile long. One way shelters and rescues are making this work is with the use of foster homes. A family can take in an animal to stay with them until the animal finds a new home. This is only a temporary fix, but it provides the animals with the love of a family while they wait for a permanent placement.

Responsible animal ownership begins with ensuring your pet has been spayed or neutered. A pet is a commitment. Dog and cat owners can expect to have their family member for up to 20 years in some cases. Rodents are a shorter commitment, but birds and some reptiles are a lot longer commitments. This needs to be kept in mind when one is considering pet adoption.

The Pope County Humane Society was established in 1985 and incorporated in 1987. By 2004, enough money was raised to fund the construction of the physical location they have today. The shelter is run by a crew of dedicated, hard-working staff that put their hearts into caring for every animal that comes through their door as well as some that don’t make it through the door.

What makes PCHS unique is an attached thrift store. The Class Act thrift shop began as a series of fundraising garage sales and evolved into what it is today. 

The Share the Love Charity Brunch is another way PCHS conducts fundraising. The event for 2023 will be held on Sunday, February 12 at the Minnewaska House Brewing Co + Grill beginning at 10 a.m. PCHS holds the event near Valentine’s Day so that people remember that animals deserve love too. The shelter also receives donations from the receipts of Tom’s Food Pride patrons.

Currently PCHS is full to their maximum capacity, and they have stretched their foster families as thin as they can. If you are interested in fostering an animal, get in touch with the shelter. The waiting list for felines alone is currently over 50 cats and it continues to grow. If offering a temporary or permanent home for an animal is not right for you right now, there are other ways you can help. Donations of time, pet food, toys, supplies and money are always welcomed. The shelter can be reached by phone at (320)634-4761. They are currently only open by appointment. Donations can be made on their website at www.pchsmn.org. The website also contains a link to their adoptable animals.