Santa Rosa County's homeless animals need adoptive homes
BY CATLIN GALLARDO Special to Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Picture courtesy of Santa Rosa County Animal Services Cricket, a 3-year-old mix, is one of many animals available at through Santa Rosa County Animal Services.

Sheryl Markel, a kennel tech at Santa Rosa County Animal Services, has 14 dogs. Seven have come from the shelter.

One is blind in one eye, one has heartworms and another was returned three times.

These dogs may sound like undesirable pets, but animals coming from shelters are less likely to be products of a puppy mill.

The adorable puppies you ogle in pet shop windows could possibly come from mills. Dog breeders are using purebreds as cash crops and treating them like livestock.

On Friday, Oprah dedicated an entire show to disclosing treatment of dogs at puppy mills. She had Lisa Ling, who went undercover to some of these, on the show to share her experience. The audience saw some of the footage from her visits to the mills.

Puppies and their mothers, which could be putting out over 100 puppies in their lifetime, are living in crowded, wire cages. Some have never set foot on earth and felt grass or dirt beneath their paws.

Tara Deaguilera, an animal tech at Santa Rosa County Animal Services, described the puppies' treatment. She called the owners backyard breeders who keep animals in substandard conditions.

The puppies that come from these mills are usually inbred, have poor health, never had medication, never been exercised, and live in small cages. Deaguilera said these breeders have hundreds they use just to earn a profit.

She said it's hard to spot a puppy coming from a mill. The only indication is that they are sick all the time. But even that isn't a sure sign.

Deaguilera suggested going to shelters, like Santa Rosa County Animal Services, or through a dog rescue group to avoid possibly getting a puppy from a mill. If you go with a breeder, go to the house, see the parent and see the conditions it is kept in.

She wanted to dispel the myth that dogs at shelters are not purebred. They get plenty of purebred dogs that the owners simply couldn't take care of any more. That's where a dog rescue group comes in.

Linda Bills Shirley works with the shelter to help find good homes for the dogs there. She is a rescue coordinator, which means she plans trips so the dogs can get from point A to point B.

Dog rescues have a network of people who volunteer to drive dogs for an hour leg to meet up with someone who is driving the next hour.

"Not everyone is willing to jump in a car for six hours for a dog," Shirley said. Breaking it up gives more incentive for volunteers to make the trip.

Last summer, she helped organize the longest transport she has ever done. A white English Setter, Ziggy, was about to be euthanized in North Carolina. She was driven to Milton in one day to stay at a foster home.

Ziggy eventually found a permanent home in Pennsylvania.

Shirley got involved with dog rescue two years ago when she went to the shelter in Milton and saw an English Setter she couldn't take home. She made the commitment on the spot to find it the best possible home.

Shirley defines a rescue as an organization or network of people who are dedicated to saving dogs, mix or purebred. She says rescues don't exist for people who just want to give their dog away, they are for people who genuinely can't take care of their pet any more.

She said a lot of dogs come from people who have recently divorced, had a baby, a death in the family, moved or any circumstance where the pet won't receive adequate care any longer.

"Some dogs have such wonderful potential to be someone's pet," Shirley said.

Rescues make sure the dogs have been spayed or neutered, had their shots and gotten microchips that can help track them if they get lost. Also, some dogs are put in a foster home until a new owner is found. The foster home usually helps break some bad habits if the dog has any.

Markel said the shelter is the only one is Santa Rosa County. It rarely receives animals from rescues; it usually sends dogs to rescues to find a home.

She said about 60 percent of rescues are for certain dog breeds, so when the shelter gets a purebred it will notify the rescue.

Markel said the shelter euthanizes 10 to 30 dogs per day. This adds up to be about 80 percent of the roughly 9,000 dogs it receives each year. The only days it isn't using euthanasia are Christmas, New Year's, and federal holidays.

The shelter has 70 kennels and 11 holding kennels. Markel said they sometimes put two dogs of the same breed into one kennel if necessary.

She said a lot of dogs who come to the shelter are from people who don't treat them with responsibility.

"I know where my dogs are at all times of the day," Markel said. "If I don't, I'm out looking for them."