Cedar Bend Humane Society experiences influx of dogs

The Cedar Bend Humane Society recently took in 36 dogs that were seized from a dog breeding facility near Nashua.

Jessica Parker, a staff member at the Humane Society's shelter on Airline Highway, commented on the influx of animals.

"It's taxing on our staff. It's kind of stressed a few people out," she said. "We have had to bring in extra staff and things like that, but we're okay with it. We got (the dogs) out of the situation they were in. We've begun to start rehabilitating them. This week they're all going to be spayed and neutered by area vets, and vaccinated for rabies and things like that."

Cedar Bend decided to open their new shelter to accommodate the dogs, and are working to rehabilitate the dogs through socialization, vet check-ups and spaying and neutering the dogs.

Parker emphasized the need for socialization of the dogs.

"They don't know what grass is, they don't know what a home is or a vacuum or a dog dish even," she said. "These guys were fed out of what looked like chicken feeders, so they literally don't know what a dog dish is."

Volunteers are needed to help care for the Nashua dogs while the kennels are cleaned in the morning, and foster families are needed to socialize with the dogs.

The dogs need socialization to learn how to interact with people and how to behave. Foster families are also needed for pregnant cats, cats with kittens or kittens that need to be bottle-fed.
A foster family is supplied with food, bedding and other necessities to manage the animal. The animals belong to the animal shelter until an adoption is completed, but fostering is a great way to prepare some animals for adoption.

A new shelter opening in early May will become the adoption center and the current shelter will be used to house incoming animals.

The Humane Society will be moving animals for adoption into the new shelter in early May and will need help from volunteers. They intend to do a thorough cleaning of the shelter before moving the dogs, and they will need volunteers to walk and play with the dogs while the staff cleans the shelter or help with the cleaning.

According to Alan Malone, the Humane Society volunteer coordinator, the volunteer program will also change after the new building is opened.

"Right now, anybody can come in here and be able to walk the dogs," he said. "One of the big things we're going to have with the new building once we open that is an actual orientation program that will help train anybody in the same way to build consistency with how to work with the dogs or how to work with the cats."

The orientation will be aimed at preparing the volunteers to help train the dogs in basic skills like heel, sit and lie down.

Volunteers can sign up online on the Cedar Bend Humane Society Web site at www.cedarbendhumane.org/. The form allows people to volunteer for specific types of work and will regulate the volunteer program at the shelter to make it stronger. With an established system for volunteers, Malone hopes that they will be more reliable, too.

Parker explained that adoption of the animals is somewhat rigorous.

"We do have an application that has to be filled out and approved, and once that application's approved we can go through with the adoption," she said. "A big thing is that if you have a landlord, we are required to call the landlord prior to doing the adoption to make sure that the home is pet-friendly. We would hate for them to adopt a dog and get home with the animal, their landlord finds out and then the animal has to come back here."

The Cedar Bend Humane Society also checks with the family vet to see if current pets are treated well and up-to-date on all of their vaccines. The adoption process varies from shelter to shelter, as there are no state regulations on adoption from shelters, apart from a law that requires that the animals be spayed and neutered.

Parker commented that the adoption process is strict for a reason.

"We feel that we're doing the best we can to get the animal to a better home than where it came from," she said. "We do the things that we can to lessen the chances of the animal being brought back to the shelter. That's kind of our number one priority right now, and it has been throughout the years, making sure that we're adopting into a permanent family, not just somebody who could keep them for a month or two and then have to bring them back here."

Despite rumors to the contrary, people with allergies can adopt pets from the shelter. Hypoallergenic dogs, like poodles or other non-shedding breeds, are recommended but not mandatory. Cats are also available to those with allergies, especially if the area of the house or apartment is larger or if the adopter has previously owned a pet they are allergic to and suffered little to no ill effects.

More information on the Cedar Bend Humane Society is located on their Web site, available by phone at (319) 235-5335 or in person from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week at 1166 W. Airline Highway in Waterloo.