09/30/2024
This has to stop!!!
This 8 year old, poor, starved, terrified female pittie was dumped on the Stafford SPCA hill. She was tied to a tree without food and water. A note was left on the ground, in the rain. The little girl shredded the note. No phone call, no email, no appointment, no surrender form, no health history, nothing about shots & vaccinations, absolutely nothing to work with, etc. Strictly a dump job.
If people think, that by dumping their pet at an SPCA, that they automatically get brought into our shelter, and into our program, they're wrong.
Abandoned animals (its a crime) are within the purview of Stafford County Animal Shelter (Stafford County Animal Control). We are generally required to turn all lost / stray / abandoned animals over to Animal Control for initial intake and custody.
While the Stafford SPCA is a no-kill shelter, we are a closed access facility. When our shelter and foster homes are maxed out, we don't take in anymore animals, until we have room.
Many people think, that if they dump their pets at an SPCA, that their pets now get the "No Kill, get whatever they need, the SPCA pays for all Vet care, food, housing, provides for all their needs, etc." NOPE.
We don't get a dime from the County, the State or the Federal Government. We don't receive a penny of Government support at all. We bring in the # of animals that we can afford to take care of based on donations, adoption fees, and other revenue sources. People don't get to dictate how many animals we care for, and we're usually at capacity.
We have policies in place regarding animal intakes to keep our custodial animals, staff, volunteers, guests, and everyone's personal animals safe. That includes not bringing stray, potentially sick, contagious, aggressive, unknown animals into our facility.
This is the 2nd dump job in the past week. Vehicle descriptions and tags are being provided to Law Enforcement. Deputy Brooks from Stafford County Animal Control (540) 658-7387 did a nice job coming to our facility and was able to get the scared (and starved) pup loaded up without incident or injury. I encourage the owner of this dog to contact Animal Control directly, surrendwr the dog legally and properly, share her health & vaccination history, and help shorten the amount of time that the pup has to spend in doggy jail.
Abandoning animals is a crime, and should be treated as such.
Bill