Capone; a dog at the Oshkosh Area Humane Society. PC: Oshkosh Area Humane Society
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — 11 pets were recently abandoned outside a local animal shelter, prompting a reminder from officials about the correct way to surrender animals.
On Friday, the Oshkosh Area Humane Society took to Facebook to post about an abandonment incident that happened earlier this week.
An employee came into work one morning at 7 a.m. to find a dog tied to the bench in front of the shelter, along with two adult cats and eight kittens inside of a crate.
“We hope people can understand how this affects the animals and our shelter. We had already scheduled 12 cats to come in that day, which means we took in 22 cats in one day. Also, nearly every dog kennel is already full. These unexpected arrivals significantly tax shelter resources,” OAHS wrote in the post. “We have a long wait list of dogs waiting to come into our care; taking another dog in pushes everyone on that list, which is unfair to those who follow our processes.”
Officials say the animals had been abandoned around 9 p.m. the night before they were found, meaning they were left outside, alone and in the dark, for approximately 10 hours. This placed the pets in a dangerous situation, OAHS says.
“There are predators who could have attacked the dog, or the dog could have chewed through his leash, or twisted it around himself and become injured,” the shelter said.
A note was written and left with the pets, but the dog chewed it up, so OAHS has no way of knowing any behavioral or medical information about any of the animals, which makes it harder to care for them and find them new homes.
“This post is not intended to shame the people who obviously very much needed our help. We are just asking that people in need call us first so that we can be prepared, and can help the animals in the best way possible,” OAHS said in the post.
If they would have called and made an appointment, we would have scheduled the necessary staff to best help these animals immediately… We know times are tough; we can work with your individual situation to the best of our resources. If you need help, please contact us first so we can best help you and the animals.
OAHS says this goes for all animal shelters, regardless of location. Click here for contact information for the Oshkosh Area Humane Society.
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