'Every animal needs a home'
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 21, 2018 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A newly adopted dog watches as his neighbors are taken out one-by-one to meet families and hopefully find their forever homes. Some of the animals had to wait to go home until they could be spayed or neutered.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Payton Lane holds her new kitten Opal Saturday after adopting her from the Wayne County Animal Adoption and Education Center. People lined up throughout the day for the Clear the Shelter event.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Sophia Kelley, 4, gets to know her new dog, Shelby, in one of the play rooms during Clear the Shelter Saturday.
Payton Lane loves animals.
If she could have, she would have cleared the Wayne County Animal Adoption and Education Center all by herself.
Dana Talton of Princeton would have done so, too.
But as responsible pet owners, they settled on one kitten each during Saturday's second annual Clear the Shelter.
One benefit to getting a pet during Clear the Shelter -- there are no adoption fees. Also, all of the dogs and cats, if they were old enough, had their vaccinations and rabies shots.
Potential adopters were able to take the dog or cat they wanted into a play area to interact with it before taking it home.
Some 20 animals were adopted within the first hour, and about 20 people were still waiting in line around 11:30 a.m. to get inside to find their new pet.
However, the total number of 76 animals -- 35 cats and 41 dogs -- adopted was down from last year's total of 85 -- 45 cats and 40 dogs.
The animals remaining are still available for adoption, but a $65 adoption fee is required.
Lane got a gray and white 2-month-old female kitten named Opal that will join her two dogs, an outside Dachshund and an inside Yorkie.
"I love animals, oh my gosh," Lane said. "I like to come out here and look at them, but this cat, she is just so sweet. When we went in there to play with her she was just so laid-back.
"She would roll on her back, and you could rub her stomach. She's cuddly. She's so cute. I told my mom that I wish I could take them all home with me, but I can't."
"We can't do that," said her mom, Leslie Lane.
It was the first time they had participated in Clear the Shelter.
"I just wanted to come out here and see what they had," Payton Lane said. "I wanted a small dog, but they had all big dogs. So I decided to look at the cats, and I found that one."
She said she thinks her dogs will get along fine with their new kitty.
"We don't really bring the outside dog in, and our inside dog is so sweet," she said. "She was around kittens when she was born so she is familiar with cats. I think she will be OK.
"I think it is a good event because I feel like every animal needs a home. I get so sad when I go in there and look at them like that."
"They deserve a second chance at life, living in a good home," Leslie Lane said.
Talton's new kitty snuggled against her neck, purred and licked her.
"I have two dogs that are indoors, and then I have two outdoor dogs and two outdoor cats," Talton said. "I miss my indoor cats."
Talton said it took her about 30 minutes to make her choice -- she started at one end of the cat area and went to the other.
She said she was looking for a young female that would be able to adapt to being around the dogs and be social with her children and nieces and nephews who like to visit and play with her pets.
The kitten, whose shelter name is Athena, fit the bill as being friendly and easy to get along with. Talton said she might keep the name.
"I wish I could take them all home," she said. "It gives you a chance, on a personal level. It is a great stress reliever. It gives you somebody or something to love and take care of.
"It gives them a chance to get out and be part of somebody's family."
The shelter started the day with approximately 100 animals -- 56 cats and 43 dogs available for adoption, said Frank Sauls, manager of Wayne County Animal Services.
Sauls said he is unsure why the adoption numbers were down.
"We are still trying to figure out what the issue was," he said. "We didn't have the foot traffic we did last year, although we did a lot more advertising. Sometimes things just happen."
The crowd seemed to build up a little slower than last year, but while the crowd did not appear as large as last year, it did stay steady, he said.
"We are letting five people in at a time, and we try to break it down if you have five people wanting to adopt a dog, five people wanting to adopt a cat," he said. "We have 10 people in the building looking at one time.
"That way, it gives us the time to get the paperwork done, do the adoption and get them out the building before the next group comes in."
Staff arrived at 7 a.m. and a line had formed before the doors opened at 10 a.m. The event had been set to end at 5, but closed at 4:30, after going for about 30 minutes with no one showing up, Sauls said.
People filled out paperwork for the adoption as they stood in line.
"We are running them through our system to make sure they haven't been flagged at any point for any unpaid citations, anything that would throw up a red flag," Sauls said. "We want to make sure these dogs and cats are going to the best homes possible."
The animals also were microchipped, and the microchip's information from the owner entered the computer.
"That way, they can be traced back to the owner," Sauls said. "Our staff worked hard in the weeks leading up to this to get everything ready. We had a big push this past week to try and make sure all of the animals were vaccinated, microchipped, made sure the vet could see everything that he could see to get them spayed or neutered.
"We weren't able to get them all spayed or neutered, but we do have a plan in place to make that happen for the owners who fill out the adoption process."
If the animal was not old enough for the procedure, the adopters signed a contract that they will get it done.
If the animal was old enough, the procedure will be done this week and the person will complete the application process, Sauls said.
Animal Advocates was selling food and snacks to raise money. The Humane Society, Eli's Friends, PetSmart and Pet Supplies Plus had booths at the shelter.
Texas Roadhouse provided coupons for every adopter for a free appetizer for every meal purchased and also provided food for volunteers and staff.
It was an important day for the shelter, Sauls said.
"It will help clear our adoption area out, as well as give us the opportunity to go in and do a heavy spring cleaning on the building, and it finds great homes for the animals that do leave," he said.