NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — For the first time ever, Local 10 Animal Advocate Jacey Birch visited all four of our local shelters in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to find out what causes some dogs to linger so much longer than others in a shelter setting.
Why are some adopted quickly while others get stuck in a kennel for years?
“A lot of our long-timers are usually our large breed dogs, especially seniors and our pittie-mixes,” said Tiffany Hernandez with the Humane Society of Greater Miami.
Most adopters are looking for small dogs and puppies and certain breeds get a bad rap.
Mike is a dog who has lived at the Humane Society of Greater Miami for too long, two years too long!
“When a dog stays here for a very long time, after a couple months or even years, they start declining in mental health,” said Hernandez.
It’s no different at Miami-Dade Animal Services in Doral, where 4-year-old Terrier mix Nance has been there more than 800 days and Keanu, a 3-year-old bulldog mix, is closing in on 700 days.
Both are high-energy and love their toys but they definitely need to be top dog.
“A lot of our longest residents have to be the only pet in the household because they may have some sort of reactivity with other pets,” said Gabriella Dominguez with Miami-Dade Animal Services.
Big dogs get passed over frequently in urban Miami due to apartment and condo-style living.
“Unfortunately, people think that a large dog means I need a large yard, and that’s not the case at all,” said Dominguez. “There’s plenty of pets here that are very large that would adapt very well to being in a tiny apartment.”
The problems persist as Birch went north to the Humane Society of Broward County.
The shelter life takes a toll on the natural personalities of the pets, making them timid and shy or loud and assertive.
“If they get an opportunity to see those dogs outside of their kennels, it’s like night and day,” said Mary Steffen with the Humane Society of Broward County. “They’re energetic and happy and playful and social.”
Birch got to meet 4-year-old Carmen, who had been there three months, 8-year-old Bernard, who had been there for two months, and 5-year-old River, who had been in the kennel for 60 days.
All three have one thing in common.
“If you walk through our kennels on any given day, 50% of the dogs out there are pit bull mixes,” said Steffen.
Breed restrictions can be a problem with some landlords, but dogs are judged just as harshly as us humans.
“They’re always going to choose the healthiest, often times the youngest, the prettiest,” said Steffen.
This is a typical problem in shelters too. When a momma is used for breeding, her puppies are the first ones to get adopted out, but then she’s the one who can get stuck there for months.
At Broward County Animal Care, length of stay for animals is a major issue that the new director came in wanting to tackle.
“The quicker we can cycle those pets out of this building, the more we can free up room to help more animals coming in,” said Doug Brightwell with Broward County Animal Care.
Over the last year, new marketing programs and snazzy social media posts have helped to bring the month average down to about 20 days.
Courtney is 5 years old and loves people, her toys and other dogs, too, but she has been stuck in a shelter for more than six months.
“These dogs come from the community,” said Brightwell. “We want to get them cleaned up, we want to get them healthy and we want to send them back out into the community, that way they are sterilized, they’re healthier and they can live out their life in a permanent home.”
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