[July 05, 2011] Humane Society offers free dogs Tweet Jun 24, 2011 (Odessa American - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- ODESSA, Texas -- Every dog has his day and in June, he gets the entire month. That's because this month, the Humane Society of Odessa has been adopting out dogs for free to people who can provide them a good home. The shelter has adopted out about 419 dogs since 2011 started, and the free adoption has brought out more people. "We normally adopt out about 10 dogs a week," Director Dale Nesmith said. "The first week we started, we adopted out 15. It's really helped our adoption rate." The waived adoption fee isn't just for man's best friend, but also for some of the cats at the shelter as well. "We only have about 40 cats and up to 100 dogs," Second Vice-President on the executive board Bryan Yancey said. "We adopt about one cat for every 10 dogs." The shelter, which has a no-kill policy, is adopting out animals that have been sheltered for more than a year. Yancey said it's gotten to where up to four dogs are sharing one cage. About 25 dogs were adopted between the beginning of the program and Wednesday. But the shelter still houses more than 100 animals and more are being brought in. The recent heat hasn't helped much either. "In this heat, that's a lot of dogs to keep outside. The smaller dogs stay inside in the kennels. Bigger dogs who can deal with the heat in the shade are outside," Yancey said. Potential owners are screened before an animal goes home with anyone and certain criteria are looked for when matching a dog up with a new home. "We screen the best we can," Yancey said. "They need to have a big enough yard for the size of the dog (being adopted) or we make sure they're not put with vicious animals." Usually, adopting a puppy out is $65 and an older dog can cost between $75 and $100. The adoption cost helps cover what the shelter loses in food, the animal's spay or neuter and other veterinary bills, but it's hard to offset the cost of animals who have been sheltered for years. "We're nonprofit, so it costs us money for food and medical and we end up losing money," Yancey said. "We get most of our money through volunteers and adoptions." Sometimes animals are turned away because of limited space. Nesmith pointed to a Heeler/Terrier mix sitting with her 10-day old puppies. "When she was brought in, we asked if she was spayed," Nesmith said. "They didn't tell us she was pregnant." Nesmith said the average cost of the shelter's medical bill is about $7,000 a month. But the medical woes don't take away from the shelter's main goal. "We're not that concerned about the money, as long as we can find them a home," Yancey said. And while the dog days of summer keeps people inside in the cool air and some families go on vacation, Yancey said the free adoption has brought in more people, their website has seen more hits and the shelter has received an increase in phone calls. Shauna Scott, Valerie Gutierrez and Stephen Piedra came into the shelter looking for a new dog after they said their 6-month-old Labrador was stolen from their backyard before Christmas. Scott said the three have been searching for a replacement since. "We wanted to save a dog that didn't have a second chance," she said. Barbara Thomas adopted a Pug Wednesday after she said she saw a segment on the news about overcrowding at the shelter. "(The news) showed some dogs on TV and one was a pug, so that's what swung me," Thomas said. The new dog, Madison, gets along with Thomas' other two Pugs and there has not been any problems. "There's not any problems," Thomas said. "She listens well." To see more of the Odessa American, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.oaoa.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Odessa American, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]