Too many pets, too few homes

Finding the perfect pet can be a tough decision, but surrendering an unwanted or lost pet is just as problematic. With an exploding population of animals throughout Baltimore County and a depletion of pet-friendly homes, local humane societies and shelters have no choice but to make definitive decisions on whether or not an animal will be adopted -- or even warrants a chance.

Baltimore City Animal Control deals with more pet surrenders than the surrounding shelters, taking in about 10 animals a day. According to Robert Anderson, director of the bureau of animal control, the center accepts any and all pets or lost animals -- including ferrets, birds and mice.

"We've even had a four-and-a-half-foot alligator," Anderson said. "We haven't had a monkey yet, though."

The spring season also brings an enormous number of kittens and feral cats, and with limited space at each shelter, tough decisions have to be made as to how many cats can be housed and put up for adoption. Frank Branchini, executive director of the Humane Society of Baltimore County, said that most times, the society is not filled to capacity -- except during "Spring Kitten Season," from the beginning of May through the end of the summer.

"Literally, they come in box-loads," Branchini said. "We hold them longer than most of the other shelters."

While the Humane Society of Baltimore County (HSBC) does not follow a time limit as to how long a pet stays on the adoption floor, they do euthanize animals, as do most shelters in the county.

According to Anderson, an animal is killed with a shot of sodium phenobarbital, or "the blue juice," and it takes only a couple heartbeats before the animal is dead.

When an animal is dropped off at the Humane Society, it is evaluated based on health, age and behavior. If a cat needs extensive medical treatment, for example, the society might not have the means to pay for the necessary care. Workers and volunteers also have to consider whether, in the cramped quarters of the shelter (with as many as 75 cats or kittens in the same room), the disease will spread to the other cats.

"We provide a very high level of veterinary care for our animals," Branchini said, "but at some point, money comes into it."

Age is also considered on a case-by-case basis. Small dogs up to 10 years of age are adopted quickly, Branchini said, but for larger dogs and cats, most people aren't looking for a pet more than five years old.

At the Maryland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) on Falls Road, the "open shelter" does not turn away any animals but also euthanizes about 60 percent of the animals. Animals are evaluated on eligibility for the adoption program with characteristics similar to those used at the HSBC, with less emphasis placed on age.

"We're committed to [the animal] as long as it's healthy and mentally fit," said Mya Richmond, director of operations.

As many of the dogs are brought in with behavioral problems, the SPCA uses a five-step test designed by the American Humane Association to determine if an animal is aggressive, cannot stabilize in the new environment and will not share its food.

But due to the sheer volume of pets surrendered -- some 1,300 each month during the summer season -- some animals are euthanized the same day they're brought in. The SPCA makes people who drop off pets sign a surrender form in which it is made clear that 40 percent of animals are adopted and 60 percent are euthanized. Once a surrenderer signs the form, she will have no further knowledge of the outcome of that animal, and the decision to surrender is final.

For the animals that make it into the SPCA's adoption program, the turnover rate for dogs is every seven to 10 days, and 17 days for cats, according to Richmond. And the younger the better.

"There's obviously a demand for puppies and kittens," she said.

Branchini also notices a difference in the demand for cats and dogs.

"It's not unusual, in Maryland or nationally, for the dog adoption rate to be higher," he said.

According to Branchini, most dog-owners have to pay for their pet, while most cats are found in "free-to-a-good-home" ads. Because the dog-owners have to pay, the dog becomes more psychologically valuable to the owner. Branchini also thinks dog owners are more likely to take their pet to the veterinarian and keep it inside, where as cat owners are more likely to let it run around outside and fail to pay for medical checkups.

"The end result is way more cat problems," Branchini said.

And way more cats, in general. If owners don't pay to have cats spayed or neutered and allow them to run around outside, cats will associate in feral colonies, according to Branchini, and reinforce the overpopulation of cats.

After instituting free or minimally-priced spay/neuter programs and working with local and national rescue groups and adopting out whatever pets they can (in 2003, the Humane Society was able to adopt out 79 percent of their dogs and 53 percent of their cats), shelters still have an overabundance of animals and a lack of pet owners.

"I don't know if there are enough homes in Baltimore," Richmond said.

Branchini agrees.

"There's more animals than there's place to put them," he said.

For those who are specifically looking for a no-kill shelter, the SPCA and Humane Society direct them to four within a 100-mile radius, including Animal Rescue in Maryland Line. But most no-kill shelters have smaller capacities and send the pets and pet donators back to humane societies that euthanize.

Director Robert Anderson sees no other choice than to euthanize surrendered pets.

"If you have room for 1,000 animals, it will get filled," Anderson said. "Every shelter has to kill."