Shelters seeing increase of dogs being returned
BAKERSFIELD, Calif., (KBAK/KBFX) — Meet Mishka. This six-year-old dog was left at the doorsteps at Pet Matchmaker Rescue, tied up to a palm tree. Ring doorbell video captured the whole thing
Morgan Sokolow, director of the rescue, says this is the first time she’s seen this happen.
“She was just dumped with no information, medication, no reason why her face was bloody. You know it was kind of like well is she ok with people, is she ok with other dogs, what happened, why did they surrender her? So not having any information really doesn’t help the dog out.”
Sokolow says there is a right way to surrender an animal but this wasn’t it.
“The best thing they can do is give us as much information as possible. The more information that rescues have in the shelters even, the more we can acclimate them to the right environment with a foster or you know with just another rescue.”
We all saw the wave of adoptions during the pandemic and now we are seeing the same wave not being able to care for their pets as many owners are now returning to work.
“They got a whole world of behavioral issues because now they are without their family, they’re stuck in a crate eight hours a day, or whatever it is it’s very traumatizing for them.”
Marissa Sunny with Best Friends Animal Society, says training is a must.
“Probably one of the biggest reasons dogs end up in shelters is they don’t know how to deal with their negative behaviors especially when once they’re adults.”
Dogs need that baseline training, so they are able to cope with their owners going back to school and work and are easier to take care of as they get older.
“We’ve had some big dogs that are about a year to two years and ended up in the shelter system because there was no training and now they’re there 110 pounds and they’re jumping on you and biting at your hair and you’re close cause they’re trying to play and they’re doing it in a very sweet way but that’s very overwhelming.”
Because a puppy isn’t just for the pandemic, it’s for life.
Sokolow says, "It’s really important to think long term in any circumstance. Whether there’s a pandemic or not. If you’re going to get a puppy, you have to know that you have to have time for it. “
