Adoption program covers ID microchip, insurance
The Animal Welfare League's shelter has been operating since 1984.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- Irving and Barbara Cook traveled from their home in New York to the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County's shelter to adopt a dog -- a specific dog.
The Cooks were able to take advantage of a new adoption program, which offers free microchips for identification and a 30-day animal health insurance policy. The program aims to increase the adoption rate so that animals aren't put down.
The Cooks once had two dogs, but both died, the second one just six weeks ago after a lingering illness.
"I've been dog shopping for a solid week," Barbara Cook said of her search on petfinder.com to find the right dog. She spotted the photo of a dog they wanted on the Petfinder site -- and it was at the Trumbull shelter.
They found the dog at the Brunstetter-Niles Road facility last Thursday, filled out the application and took the new pet they named Max back home to Farmington, N.Y., southeast of Rochester.
Max was a stray who arrived at the shelter May 4, found in Leavittsburg.
Barbara Busko of Warren, league president since 1980, said the shelter receives between 1,300 to 1,900 animals annually. Not just dogs and cats, but snakes, guinea pigs, fish, rats, birds and turtles.
Source of animals
Many are dropped off at the shelter by owners who are tired of them, and some are picked up during the shelter's around-the-clock rescues of abused and neglected animals, Busko said.
Others, she noted, are pets of the elderly, who are going to nursing homes and don't have a family to care for their pet. "Some just want peace of mind before they go into a home," Busko said.
An animal stays at the shelter, which has been in operation since 1984, for an average of three weeks before a home is found. Animals who are severely injured when struck by a vehicle, shot, severely ill or become aggressive are euthanized. "Do we like to do it? No." Busko said firmly.
Animals such as a Burmese python, which can grow to 15 feet long and will attack a human baby, are taken to zoos.
In 2006, 73 animals were returned to their owners who had lost them. They showed up at the shelter on the off-chance that they were dropped off. In one case, a woman went to a shelter to adopt a pet and found the cat she had lost a year earlier.
Busko also noted an increasing number of animals arrive at the shelter because their owners are losing their homes and can't afford to keep them.
"It's a sign of what's happening to the economy," she said, noting the shelter supplies food to some owners because they can no longer afford to feed their pets but don't want to lose them.
Another service provided by the shelter 365 days a year, seven days a week is animal rescue. The shelters receives 600 to 900 calls annually to check on the well-being of animals.
"Everything we do is through donations, local foundations and fund-raising events," Busko said, noting the welfare league operates with 12 part-time employees. The cost of veterinarian care alone is 12,000 to 15,000 per year.
yovich@vindy.com