Photos courtesy of Fairfield Area Humane Society
According to Corey Schoonover, executive director of the Fairfield Area Humane Society (FAHS), the past eight years happened by accident.
While nurturing a career in retail and business management, he had the opportunity to assist his parents, both volunteers with the FAHS, with a couple of different projects. During one of those projects it just so happened that the facility was in search of a new director.
Schoonover grew up around animals and knew exactly how his business management experience could translate into the successful management of a non-profit organization.
“The biggest issue, the thing they were lacking, was that it wasn’t being run as a business,” Schoonover says. “Whether you’re a non-profit with animals or a retail business, it’s a business and you’ve got to run it that way. My skills kind of fit into that, and it’s worked out ever since.”
While no government institution or animal advocate organization is currently responsible for tabulating national statistics, the ASPCA estimates that approximately 6.5 million companion animals enter shelters every year in the U.S. The figures can be further broken down into 3.3 million dogs and 3.2 million cats. Despite these staggering numbers, the number of dogs and cats entering shelters has declined from 7.2 million in 2011. Regardless, there’s still much work to be done.
Cat’s Cradle
The rate of stay at the FAHS is longer for cats than for dogs. Being a no-kill shelter, all animals are kept until the right home is found, although dogs seem to move into their forever homes at a faster rate than cats.
The cat situation is a hot-button issue at the facility, as there are no current laws that regulate stray cats.
“I think that’s our biggest frustration. We have 50-80 cats at a time and take in close to 500 a year,” Schoonover says. “It seems like everybody either has a cat, multiple cats or their neighborhood has a bunch of stray cats. Cats are a little harder to place.”
Schoonover indicates that, although there is a great deal of community support for the FAHS, the community can, at times, contribute to the problem.
“You have people feeding them and that causes a lot of different issues,” he says. “If you’re feeding them because you feel like you’re doing the right thing, it’s great, but then they’re all congregating in the same place and then it just causes an issue with having more and more kittens.”
Despite the low-cost spay and neutering options, when a female cat shows up at the facility and gives birth to a litter of eight shortly thereafter, that low-cost option of $50 to spay suddenly is multiplied by eight.
Doggone It
The FAHS responds to cases of animal abuse and neglect in the surrounding counties. The variety and overall number of adoptable animals reflects recent cases of neglect and abuse in which the facility is involved. Schoonover references a recent case in Vinton County as the reason for a sudden availability of two breeds in particular.
“Just as an example, right now we’re helping a lady in a situation all the way down in Vinton County and she had close to 200 dogs. We’ve been bringing them up here in groups and they’re all Chihuahuas and Pomeranians,” Schoonover says. “We kind of go in spurts of small dogs and then big dogs.”
Summer is a particularly rough time for the facility in terms of intake. Schoonover suggests it’s because everyone is on summer break and away on vacation or families’ schedules aren’t as concrete as when school is in session. Regardless, summer months typically see higher rates of surrenders.
“We buddy our dogs up so we’re probably one of the only shelters you can walk into and you’ll see multiple dogs in a kennel. Whether they came in together or not, they do better when they have a friend,” Schoonover says.
How Can the Community Help?
If an individual makes the decision to adopt a pet – dog, cat or otherwise – there are considerations that must be made.
“I think the biggest things for us is that pets are like kids. They get sick. You get a puppy and they’re like babies. Pets are a lifelong commitment,” Schoonover says.
Schoonover doesn’t want to discourage people from adopting a pet, but believes that too often people rush into the idea.
“We work with our adopters to make sure that we put our animals in a good situation,” he says.
Schoonover indicates that a potential adopter should consider criteria such as their lifestyle and home situation.
“We ask family questions specifically because we get to know our animals while they’re here. So, we know if a dog isn’t going to do well with other dogs or doesn’t like cats. It may be better off in a home without small kids or is maybe too high-energy for an older couple,” Schoonover says.
The FAHS rarely turns anyone away from adopting a pet, but they always have the pet’s best interests in mind, first and foremost.
“If it’s not going to work out for the pet in your family situation, we’re going to point you in a different direction or different animal,” he says.
While Schoonover credits the community with being extremely generous as it pertains to monetary donations, he asks that the little things remain top of mind as well.
“Everybody’s on Facebook, everybody’s on social media these days,” Schoonover says. “So sharing our posts and spreading the word about what we’re doing is just as important as anything else.”
Nathan Collins is a managing editor. Feedback welcome at ncollins@cityscenemediagroup.com.
