How Savannah area shelters are fighting rising number of owner surrenders

Dog Shelter Animal Rescue

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Local animal rescues say this year has been one of the worst for pet surrenders.

Many local shelters are overcrowded, so organizations are doing everything they can to prevent pet euthanizations but they’re asking for help.

“We think a big part of that is financial and housing insecurities,” says Pam Peterson, One Love Animal Rescue volunteer. “And so if people have to choose between surrendering their pets or being homeless, a lot of time the pets come to us.”

One answer is an out-of-state no-kill shelter.

“We are pulling a massive amount of dogs,” Peterson said. “We’re pulling 75 dogs from local shelters here that are at capacity like Chatham County Animal Services. They will go into fosters with members of the community. The end of July we will transport them to a no-kill rescue in Delaware.” One Love Animal Rescue says they need help with transporting the pets.

“We’d like to continue doing transports every month if needed, if we have the support, the foster homes,” Peterson said. “So going forward that would be incredible. We always need fosters. For these transports, it’s a short-term commitment. It’s two weeks.”

One Love said if pet surrender trends continue, monthly transports would save the lives of close to 100 pets.

To learn more about how to foster, click or tap here.


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