Animal shelter planning for another good year

With a low euthanasia rate and donations coming in for 2019, the Bella Vista Animal Shelter is ready for another good year.

Because the shelter is not part of the city of Bella Vista, it depends on events like the Wiener Dog Races and private donations to stay open. A contract with the city gives the shelter a set amount for every animal brought in by animal control, but some animals will stay well beyond the contracted amount. At the Bella Vista Shelter, the only animals euthanized are too sick to be successfully treated or too aggressive to be rehomed. It’s never because of space, executive director Dee Dee Knight-Matney said.

Last year, one dog out of 399 that came into the shelter was euthanized. One dog was sent on to a rescue group. In 2018, 181 dogs were adopted and 196 dogs were returned to their owners. Thirty of the dogs that were adopted were returned to the shelter.

During busy times, like the Fourth of July, when a lot of dogs are coming in, the shelter’s strategy is to make space for all of them. Sometimes, dogs end up housed in the director’s office or the restrooms, she said. A few dogs may be sent to foster homes.

The numbers are down from 2017 when the shelter accepted 446 dogs and had to euthanize six of them.

In 2018, the shelter took in 233 cats, added to 61 that were already in the shelter. Ten cats were euthanized, but 162 were adopted and 14 were returned to owners.

When the shelter cat areas are full, they stop accepting cats that are found by Bella Vista residents. Often they put the residents on a waiting list and ask them to care for the animal until space opens up.

“We’re fortunate that people in our area are understanding and will continue to feed the cats out of their own pocket,” Knight-Matney said.