Saving lives is all in a day's work at shelter

Autumn Wagner never knows what she'll find outside the gate when she shows up for work at West Valley Animal Services. Some mornings, there might be an old neglected dog chained to the fence. Other mornings, she might find a box of fuzzy kittens or a couple of frightened rabbits.

Always, she is amazed that some people give no more thought to their animals than they do to putting their garbage on the curb every week. "It's startling and it's sad," she says. "You just want to cry for these pets."

For every pet owner who drops off an animal anonymously, there is another who will stroll boldly into the office with an unwanted dog or cat.

They'll say, 'We're moving — we can't have the dog anymore,' or, 'My children are allergic,"' she says. Then there are more frivolous reasons. "One person said they'd redecorated their home and the dog's fur was the wrong color for the furniture," says Autumn. She pauses and sighs. "You really have to wonder about somebody like that."

Autumn's job is to help find new homes for pets abandoned at West Valley's shelter — a facility that once had the highest "kill" rate in Salt Lake County.

One of the oldest shelters in the valley — it was built 35 years ago — about 70 percent of the cats and dogs used to be euthanized until the agency began an adoption partnership with No More Homeless Pets five years ago. Today, that rate has dropped to about 40 percent, thanks to the efforts of Autumn and others who devote hours each week to finding castaway pets new families.

"There's nothing more rewarding than taking an animal off the 'kill' list and finding it a happy home," says Autumn, 28, who runs the adoption outreach program for No More Homeless Pets. "We can't help every animal — there are just too many. But we've been able to save about 500 cats and dogs every year."

Eager to get the word out about the program at the West Valley shelter, Autumn recently joined me for a Free Lunch of takeout veggie sandwiches in her office — a room full of dog posters, sunny nap spots for cats and a chart showing which animals need to be adopted and which ones are in foster care.

Autumn has eight dog kennels and 11 cat cages at the shelter, which she fills with animals that have been homeless the longest. On weekends, she takes the animals to pet fairs throughout the valley, hoping to make that perfect match.