Here at Oakland Animal Services (OAS), we see have seen a consistent rise in our small-dog population over the past several years. At any given time during the year, we often have more small dogs than we know what to do with.
Luckily for us (and the dogs), this isn’t the situation everywhere in the country. So we reached out to our friends at the Idaho Humane Society who have so few small dogs that they were enthusiastic about taking some from us and helping us reduce the number of small dogs at OAS.
Last weekend, a team of people gathered at the shelter at 5 a.m. to prep and load fifty small dogs for a cross country trip. Two of our incredibly dedicated volunteers, Carrie C. and Janet C. agreed to make the trek with the dogs, funded by Friends of Oakland Animal Services, and what a successful trek it was! The staff at the Idaho Humane Society were delighted to receive the dogs, and within just twelve hours of arriving, one of the dogs had been adopted! Calling on partners like this is the only way we can effectively care for an ever-growing dog population.
But the trip was more than just the transport of fifty of our dogs. It was also perfect example of why we need to encourage people everywhere to get their animals spayed or neutered. While it is a blessing that we have groups in other states ready and willing to take an overflow of dogs from us, we know that spaying and neutering need to become standard practice. Until they do, we will never make a dent in the number of dogs across the country—let alone those in Oakland—who need loving forever homes.
We send out a special “Thank you!” to all our partners, and especially the Idaho Humane Society. We couldn’t do it without you!