Transfer program aids dogs

Ken Passarella loves his little Aggie. She's always excited to see him and always there for him. Passarella realized that he wanted to help animals like Aggie, a Shetland sheepdog, who didn't have anyone to come home to them. He now volunteers every Saturday and about 10 hours a week at the Salt Lake County Animal Shelter, cleaning cages, walking and photographing dogs and, with other employees, trying desperately to find the animals homes.

That effort now includes transferring dogs out of state.

The county shelter, one of 11 shelters in the Salt Lake Valley and 83 in the state, transfers dogs to Boulder Humane in Boulder, Colo., in order to lighten the load and transfer dogs that are common in Utah to other areas where those breeds aren't as prevalent.

The program is especially helpful now because of a space shortage due to remodeling. The shelter is down 30 kennels for the next several months.

Transfers mostly are Labrador retrievers and pit bulls, which are popular in Utah, said shelter spokeswoman Temma Martin.

The animal transfer program began with a springer spaniel that had been found wandering Mount Nebo, obviously abandoned. The shelter was contacted by a springer spaniel rescue group that offered to take the dog and informed the shelter about the transfer program with Boulder Humane.

Still in its infancy in Salt Lake County, the transfer program is welcomed, but not particularly loved by shelter employees.

"It's embarrassing that we can't find our own solutions," Martin said.

Martin called the program "a Band-Aid" for the Salt Lake community. Martin, her co-workers and other area shelters face similar problems: too many dogs and cats with too few people willing to adopt.

Last year the Salt Lake County Animal Shelter received 5,337 live dogs and 5,154 live cats. Of those, the shelter was able to adopt out 1,059 dogs and 742 cats; 2,733 dogs were returned to their owners and only 215 cats returned to theirs. The shelter euthanized 1,315 dogs and 3,965 cats.

Euthanasia remains a topic of heated discussion among animal lovers everywhere. Shelter employees have been called murderers and inhumane.

"People blame us like we're somehow creating this (problem)," said April Harris, adoption coordinator for the county shelter. "We're dealing with a community problem."