Shelter to fight pet drop-offs with surveillance

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islandpacket.com

Tim Donnelly

The surveillance footage looks like this: A large white sport utility vehicle pulls into a parking space in front of the Hilton Head Humane Association at about 4:15 p.m. Sunday, shortly after the shelter has closed. The driver's side of the car isn't in clear view, but the driver can be seen fumbling around inside the vehicle, while what looks like a small black dog quickly peaks through the passenger window.

Moments later, as the car pulls away, a similar-looking small black dog emerges from off-screen and chases after the car, before turning around and eventually sitting on the edge of the now-empty parking space -- the signature patient pose of a loyal pet.

The dog remained in the parking lot until a shelter staff member retrieved it soon after. The identity of the owner or the person who dropped her off isn't known. But, shelter staff said, it was clear that this was another case of someone unloading an unwanted pet.

The dog -- a friendly, chubby possible beagle-hound mix -- is the latest in what has become a major problem for the shelter.

Sometimes the pets are tied to the fence overnight; sometimes they're left in a box at the end of the road. But the sentiment, shelter staff said, is apparently always the same: This is your problem now.

Executive director Franny Gerthoffer estimates that it happens two or three times a month.

It's a dilemma that strains the heart of the association's mission. The shelter -- the only one in the area that doesn't euthanize animals -- is set up to handle stray or abused cats and dogs, not pets that people want to get rid of. At the same time, it can't ignore an animal that is left outside.

And they'd rather have a pet left at the shelter than thrown into a lake somewhere, Gerthoffer said.

For staff at the shelter, it's about the equivalent of finding an orphaned baby on a doorstep.

"People get mad at us because we don't have unlimited space," she said. "Pets already have a home. Stray, abandoned or abused animals don't have a home."

Chuck Lane, chairman of the association's board, said that while it's a situation that doesn't happen often, it creates a burden on the shelter's limited space for dogs and cats.

The shelter started using a new video-surveillance system last week to keep watch on its parking lot, with the hopes of being able to identify the people abandoning their animals. The clip of the white SUV is far from conclusive, and the camera did not pick up the license plate. But shelter staff are hoping it will help them find the dog's original owner.

The association has a process to help owners find new homes for their pets, by putting ads in the newspaper and on Web sites such as Petfinder.com or looking for temporary foster homes. It's a process that usually works, she said, but it isn't instantaneous.

Pets that are left outside are a different story. The shelter takes them in, but because it doesn't know any information about their history, it has to quarantine them and put them through medical tests even though the pet may be healthy and up to date on shots.

That ties up space and resources for other pets that come through the shelter, Gerthoffer said. If owners go through the proper process, the shelter at least can have current medical information on the pets, she said.

"You got to do the right thing, then we'll help," Gerthoffer said. "I empathize with (pet owners) but that's really not the shelter's mission."

It's sometimes hard to tell the difference between people who are bringing in legitimately abandoned animals that they found and owners who want to get rid of their pets, she said.

Other shelters, including Beaufort County's animal shelter in Beaufort, have pens set up outside for overnight drop-offs. But at the Beaufort shelter, pets are held for up to 21 days, after which they are processed for adoption or killed, said Sgt. Patti Wright with Beaufort County Animal Control.

At the Hilton Head shelter, space for new dogs and cats opens up only after an animal is adopted, Gerthoffer said.

For now, the chubby black dog is living in a small closet-like quarantine space at the shelter until it undergoes tests. It was left in the parking lot without a collar or name tag.

The staff's new name for the dog reflects the hope that it will be the last pet abandoned in the now camera-monitored parking lot. They're calling her "Video."