TIGER TV ONLINE REPORTER

October, though famous for spooky ghosts and ghouls, is also the time to commemorate man’s best and most loyal friend: a four legged, tongue and tail wagging pooch.

The American Humane designates October as the official Adopt-A-Dog month.

Rita Bingham, who serves as board member, adoption coordinator and shelter supervisor for the Humane Society in DeRidder, Louisiana, said their chapter has a 98 percent adoption record. 

“Our rescue and adoption goal is to cut down on the number of dogs being euthanized at shelters,” she said.

Hilton Cole, director of the Animal Control and Rescue Center in East Baton Rouge Parish, said the shelter euthanizes animals about five days a week.

“We use painless methods approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association,” he said.

The shelter currently uses gas chambers, but Cole said his staff is being trained to perform injections.

“We plan on going over to injection only,” he said.

But Bingham said pounds are critical for animal control.

“I’ve been doing this long enough to know that animal shelters are a necessary evil,” she said. “You have to have them. They pick up the sick, the lame and the ugly.”

Bingham also said under Cole’s direction, the shelter’s kill rate decreased by more than half.

“He’s not going to toot his own horn but that man has turned that shelter around,” she said.

Cole did say that in one of the pound’s best years 1,202 animals were adopted.

“This year is a good year,” he said. “We’ve got more volunteers helping us and electronically we’re out there on the internet. We hope to get about 1,300 animals adopted.”

Cole utilizes newspapers, trips to PetSmart and the internet to promote adoption.

Bingham uses the same methods after she goes to a shelter and pulls dogs that are adoptable. Bingham is authorized to pull from eleven parishes.

Though she prefers to pull healthy animals, approximately 40 percent of them need some sort of treatment.

“If a dog needs medical attention we’ll do it,” she said.

The animals Bingham selects are treated for heartworms and are spayed or neutered.

Section 14 of the Municipal Code states that “all animals to be adopted from the animal control center shall be spayed or neutered prior to leaving the animal control center.”

Adoption fees from the Humane Society and the Animal Control and Rescue center includes the mandatory spay and neuter fee as well as rabies vaccinations, parish registrations and heartworm treatment.

The fee for both organizations is about $70.

Cole recommends pet adoption from shelters rather than puppy mills or breeders.

“A lot of them are only in it for the money,” he said. “They don’t breed good blood lines. Especially in puppy mills the animals are kept under somewhat sterile, cold environments where females are bred every 6 months.”

Also, the animals don’t receive steady human interaction.

Lucky for 18 week old Tucker, he receives an endless flow of human contact.

“He’s pretty much my son,” said Barrett Nugent, undecided sophomore. Nugent acquired Tucker, Chihuahua and pincher mix, midway through the summer when a friend of his could no longer take care of the puppy.

“She needed someone to take him,” he said. “I was looking for a home for him then I got too attached to him and couldn’t get rid of him.”

Nugent said taking care of an animal has been a big responsibility.

“There’s bad days when I can’t see him for 5 hours but thankfully I have a roommate handy,” he said.

Cole said potential pet owners should put thought into the decision.

“Whether it’s a hamster or dog, you need to have the resources and place to keep it and realize it’s a long term commitment,” he said.

Both Bingham and Cole said pet owners must take their dog to the veterinarian at least once a year, keep up with vaccinations and put identity on their animals.

They also said pet owners need to be responsible to their community and neighborhood.

“We get calls all the time from people who say their dog got out,” Bingham said. “Most of the dead dogs we find on road sides are pets that didn’t have fences.”

Nugent agrees that people need to regard a pet as more than a cute new addition to the family.

“People get pets because they want something cute in their room, but you need to take care of it too,” he said.

The Animal Control and Rescue Center even offers classes on responsible pet ownership, Cole said.

“Our goal is to act in the best interest of the animals,” Bingham said of the Humane Society.