27,232 killed at ‘no kill’ shelter
While Broward vowed to adopt policy on stray animals, it’s not close yet
27,232. Since officials voted to have Broward County become a “no-kill” community that rarely resorts to euthanasia, 27,232 dogs and cats have met their deaths at the county shelter.
The April 2012 County Commission vote encouraged cat and dog lovers, but it was only “aspirational,” county officials said. Since then, records show, more than half — 52 percent — of the dogs and cats at the shelter have been put down.
Meanwhile, a clinic that would offer mass spay-and-neuter services to reduce Broward’s unwanted animal population is still just in the discussion stages.
Cats face the toughest odds at the shelter, with more than half of them — 55 percent — dying there over the past year. Almost a third of shelter dogs — 31percent — met that fate.
Still, the death toll represents an improvement.
The percentage of dogs and cats put down at the county shelter has declined to 44 percent now from 61 percent in April 2012, shelter statistics show.
County animal care officials said they’re doing the best they can with limited resources and are hopeful the euthanasia cases will continue to decline.
“We’re nowhere where we want to be,” said Thomas Adair, administrator of the county’s Animal Care and Adoption Division. “But we’re pleased with the direction we’re going.”
‘Community cats’
If it weren’t for all the cats, Broward’s euthanasia statistics would be a lot rosier.
In the past year, 8,687 cats wound up in the county shelter, and 4,745 of them were euthanized, county records show.
The sheer number of cats in Broward County makes it difficult to save them, county officials say.
South Florida’s balmy weather only makes the problem worse. Feral cats — called “community cats” by Broward officials — breed at a mind-boggling rate all year long.
Change is coming, according to Cynthia Chambers, director of the county’s Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department, which includes animal care.
She’ll ask the County Commission for approval this year for a “robust” program to reduce the feral cat population, an effort she said would have an effect on euthanasia numbers.
While “trap-neuter-return” programs, which ster- ilize feral cats and return them to the community, are popular nationwide, county staff isn’t allowed to do it. Those rules need amending, she said.
Not adoptable?
Some adopt.
A short-haired black or brown dog weighing more than 30 pounds doesn’t usually attract dog shoppers. Chances drop if 12 days pass and the dog’s still in the shelter.
The kennel is like “a prison environment,” Adair said. Being in a cage is stressful.
Eventually, it becomes clear some dogs will always be passed over.
That’s what the “last call” list is for. The hard-to-adopt dogs are publicized by the county in hopes that a nonprofit shelter will step in.
These are the dogs that might thrive in a family’s home but might not ever get the chance. Some languish more than a month, waiting to be rescued.
Meredith Bruder, an activist with Pets’ Broward and a harsh critic of the county’s operation, said “adoptable” dogs on the urgent list are killed even though the shelter isn’t full.
Adair disputed that. What does “adoptable” mean, he asked, if no one
dogs
no
one
will will adopt the animal?
“We do not euthanize healthy, adoptable animals,” he said. “It’s up the community to define what’s healthy and adoptable.”
Ultimately, about 180 dogs are put down there each month, then cremated. But county officials said they place no time limit on a dog’s stay before making that grave decision.
“There’s no reason for us to euthanize a perfectly healthy, happy dog,” Adair said. “My office is right next to our play yard. There’s a female brindle. She’s fat and happy and she limps on her back left leg. I’ve seen her out here every day for the last two weeks. Her time has been up I don’t know how long. I said, ‘We really need to get a video of this dog hobbling out here and playing. She’s fun to watch.’ ”
The latest “urgent” adoption list includes the 56-pound American Staffordshire mix he described. A video of her is available on the animal shelter website, where photos of all the dogs and cats are posted.
A stray in Plantation, she was picked up by shelter staff at a gas station — hence her name: Chevron. She and fellow stray Techron have been at the shelter longer than any other dogs, since March 16.
“Since her personality is so sparkly,” the county’s adoption notice reads, “it’s hard to imagine why she hasn’t been adopted yet, but hopefully this is Chevron’s week!”
No Kill Nation
Though Broward has many pressing issues — homelessness, traffic gridlock, pockets of poverty — animal issues have seized the hearts of many on the County Commission and among the general public.
Under the No Kill Nation Inc. model Broward is following, communities “save” 90 percent of the animals in shelters.
Hundreds of communities have embraced the same goal.
Palm Beach County last year started a “Count Down to Zero” campaign to phase out euthanizing healthy and adoptable animals.
The 10-year effort calls for many of the things Broward plans: investing more in pet sterilization, as well as catching, sterilizing, vaccinating and releasing stray cats. Another goal of the program is to provide more pet training to reduce the number of frustrated owners who give up on their animals and leave them at the shelter.
In September, Palm Beach County approved spending $250,000 to team up with animal rescue groups to expand spay and neuter efforts. The county already was spending $8 million a year on animal care.
Broward commissioners said they wanted to pursue “no kill” without spending much money. The animal care budget is $5.2 million, up from $4.3 million in 2012. That’s out of an operating budget of $2.5 billion.
Commissioners also said they wouldn’t support a property tax devoted to saving animals, an idea pushed by activist Bruder.
Two facilities are in the works, though they’ve been slow in coming.
Broward for years has planned a replacement animal shelter and in March hired Stiles Corp. to build one at a cost of $15.2 million. It’s expected to open next year. The new shelter, at 2308 SW 42nd St. in Fort Lauderdale, will have more space for programs that would support adoptions and reductions in owners surrendering their pets, Chambers said.
The county also dorsed construction mass spay-and-neuter ic.
The county would donate the land, next to the new shelter site, and the Humane Society of Broward County would build and operate it.
But a year after the county voted to explore the enof a clin- partnership, it hasn’t gone far. Humane Society President/CEO Christopher Agostino said the project remains in the discussion stages.
“We are and continue to explore the opportunity to partner, but nothing has been finalized or committed to,” Agostino told the Sun Sentinel in an email in March.
Slow road
The no-kill declaration is no magic wand. Progress has been slower than some would like.
Bruder said the county has been all talk, no action.
“What are they doing to save more pets,” she asked, “besides talking about it and pretending that they care?”
County officials said the expectations were unrealistic — some people thought the day after the vote, euthanasia would end.
In truth, it’s more of a journey, county officials said.
No, the county hasn’t achieved “no kill,” but it has achieved “less kill,” Chambers said.
County officials said they have increased sterilizations since 2012, put in place a large-scale animal fostercare program and increased the number of adoptions.
But Chambers said communities successful in dramatic reductions in euthanasia have “significant involvement” from nonprofit groups, including transporting animals to other states.
“This is a partnership with the community,” Chambers said. “The shelter can’t do it all on its own.”