April 13 through April 19 will be Animal Care and Control Week, and Berrien County Animal Services is hoping everyone will take a moment to thank its staff and volunteers for all the things they do on behalf of the county’s four-legged citizens.
Speaking to county commissioners Thursday, shelter manager Ashley Herr said a lot of critters find a place to stay and their forever homes thanks to Animal Services.
“Every month we take in about 75 dogs and about 30 cats,” Herr said. “This last month was kind of an outrageous month for us. We got over 80 dogs in and we got over 80 cats in. Months like that happen, but the really exciting thing is, is that on average, we adopt out 20 to 30 dogs, about 10 to 20 cats.”
Herr said last month was a record month with ten adoptions in just one day. She added Animal Services does more than just housing and adopting dogs and cats.
“We have boarding resources, we have dog training resources, we have grooming resources. If you are trying to figure out, okay, we have umpteen vets in our county, who is the best one? We don’t play favorites, but we do have a complete list.”
Herr said the next goal for Animal Services is to achieve No Kill status at its shelter, which can be done when 90% of its animals are successfully released into homes. Right now, it’s at 95% for cats and 87% for dogs, meaning that goal is within reach. Getting No Kill status will open up grant opportunities and give Animal Services another point of pride.
Herr also noted there will be an adoption special next week, with $25 dog adoptions and $10 cat adoptions.
