Local

MS Coast animal shelters are at ‘crisis’ capacity, forcing one to consider euthanizing dogs

By Jesse Lieberman

Updated July 12, 2022 4:08 PM

A dog lies on his bed, waiting to be adopted, at the Humane Society of South Mississippi in Gulfport on Thursday, July 7, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff hruhoff@sunherald.com

Every corner of the Humane Society of South Mississippi is full.

In hallways at the Gulfport shelter that are normally free of animals, makeshift cages are set up housing young puppies. Kennels are stacked on top of each other with dogs of all ages and breeds.

Right now, about 500 animals call the Humane Society, a no-kill shelter, home — which is more than the shelter can handle.

“We have been over capacity since the start of the year,” said the Development Director for the Humane Society of South Mississippi, Katie King. “It’s a capacity crisis.”

Due to the influx of animals, many are being kept in kennels that had to be added in the hallways at the Humane Society of South Mississippi in Gulfport on Thursday, July 7, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff hruhoff@sunherald.com

And HSSM isn’t alone.

Across the Coast, animal shelters are sharing gut-wrenching stories of abandoned dogs on Facebook and slashing adoption prices. The Jackson County Animal Shelter is even being forced to consider euthanizing healthy dogs as the shelter reaches the brink of capacity, with more animals being brought in daily.

How did the animal adoption crisis happen in MS?

There are several reasons why there are an overflow of dogs in shelters this summer, King said.

During the COVID pandemic, she said, spay and neuter surgeries were not being performed because they weren’t deemed essential, and potential new animal parents weren’t qualifying for financial assistance.

HSSM has also dealt with multiple hoarding cases this year, including one from Pass Christian.

The Humane Society has a strict no-kill policy and will not euthanize any healthy, adoptable animals in their care.

“No matter how many animals we can get out through the door from adoptions, double come in the back doors from animal control or surrenders,” said Bianca Jainik, a worker at the Humane Society.

The Humane Society, like many other businesses and organizations on the Coast, is struggling to fill job vacancies during a tight labor market.

“When you have a low level of staffing, it gets to be a lot,” Jainik said.

This, coupled with a dearth of volunteers to do tough work, have put an extra strain on staff.

“People have this misconception that there are enough people getting involved, but that’s not really the case,” she said. “We need volunteers to … clean the kennels and scrub them in 90-degree weather. There’s a lot of physical work to be done here and as a staff we are getting by but struggling with the sheer amount of animals.”

Several dogs wait to be adopted at the Humane Society of South Mississippi in Gulfport on Thursday, July 7, 2022. Hannah Ruhoff hruhoff@sunherald.com

Crisis at Jackson County Animal Shelter

The struggles that the Humane Society of South Mississippi are echoed at the Jackson County Animal Shelter.

“Intake started picking up at the first of this year and as we have gotten into the summer months it has quadrupled,” said Joseph Barlow, the director of Jackson County Animal Shelter.

He explains that during COVID, people were home a lot and wanted pets leading to lots of adoptions. But now people are returning to work and returning the animals they recently adopted.

The Jackson County Animal Shelter is currently housing 250 animals, which is close to capacity.

As shelters reach capacity, the discussion of euthanasia inevitably comes up.

The Jackson County Animal Shelter has a policy that they do not euthanize “adoptable” animals.

But when the shelter is at its capacity, they are forced euthanize animals that are not considered adoptable.

“They are aggressive, they are biting, they are court ordered, they are sick beyond my vets’ abilities, those are the ones that we pull to make space when we are pressed for space,” Barlow said. “But we are running short on animals that are not adoptable and we are fearful that we will have to do some that are to make space.”

As the resources at his shelter and his shelter’s partners gets stretched thin, Barlow is asking the community for help.

“When we talk about community support, we hope people can identify their friends and family members that are not spay and neutering their animals and inform them that there are low-cost spay and neuter options,” he said. “When people read euthanasia, there is a knee jerk reaction and some righteous indignation that really should exist throughout this process.”