Berrien County Animal Control has a problem.
Outreach coordinator Katherine Francis tells us the shelter is out of space.
“We are at capacity,” Francis said. “Yesterday, we had only one open kennel to take in more dogs. It’s mostly for dogs. We have taken in 65 dogs so far this month, and some of them are long-term court evidence dogs.”
Those court evidence dogs are dogs that are part of a criminal case that Animal Control has to hold until the case is processed. Sometimes, those animals are in the shelter for six months or more. With them taking up so much space, Berrien County Animal Control really needs to get some of the other dogs adopted.
“We have about 20 dogs all ready to go to be adopted, and I’m mostly speaking about large dogs. Those are where we really have limitations. So, we’ve only had 17 adoptions so far this month, which isn’t a bad number, but we need more and we’ve only had 11 dogs that were returned to owner.”
Francis says Animal Control is required by law to take all dogs brought its way. Often, puppies and more popular breeds like golden retrievers are taken by animal rescue organizations like the Humane Society, leaving the county shelter with a lot of larger dogs and pit bull mixes. However, they’re not all pit bulls.
Francis says the adoption fee has been lowered to $45 and there will be special adoption hours this Saturday from 9 to noon. Anyone looking for a new four-legged friend is asked to stop by Berrien County Animal Control to meet some of their tenants.
You can see pictures and descriptions of the available dogs right here.
