Humane Society hosts Puppy Extravaganza

By Brittany Whitley

Published: May 24, 2008

One “black and white sleepy head” at the Lee County Humane Society’s Puppy Extravaganza found a new home Saturday.

“I saw the sign and I’ve been waiting to adopt a dog for a while,” Cory Stallworth, an Auburn student and a new dog parent, said.

He said he picked his black-and-white because she was a shelter dog. Adopting was his first choice before purchasing a dog, Stallworth said.

Although he adopted Saturday, pedestrian traffic was generally slow at the extravaganza, the second such event this year, and the number of adoptions was low.

The Lee County Humane Society has been holding the extravaganza in the summer for a couple of years now, Becky Thomas, foster care coordinator at the shelter, said.

Animals can stay in the shelter anywhere from a couple of weeks to years, Amber Williams, the volunteer coordinator at the shelter said.

Puppies usually are adopted quickly she said, within a couple of months. Kittens are also at the shelter for a very short time.

Adult dogs and cats can be at the shelter for more than a year.

Williams said anyone who volunteers at the shelter realizes the importance of spaying and neutering.

In one day, the shelter received 20 cats in 10 minutes, she said.

“They always come in fives,” she said.

Thomas said business usually slows down when Auburn students go home for the summer.

She said the economic downturn and higher gas prices could also be having an effect on adoptions.

“This time of year it slows down anyway,” she said. “We get the bulk of our adoptions in the winter months.”

The Humane Society relies on donations and volunteers to operate. Thomas said the shelter gets a constant flow of financial contributions in the mail. It also gets a steady supply of newspaper, used towels and bags of dog and cat food.

“If people want to volunteer, they can come in the afternoons from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. to walk the dogs and socialize the cats,” she sad.

Core volunteers, who help with events and with vaccinating the animals, have to go through orientation at the shelter on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m.
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