Darlington County Animal Shelter faces overcrowding crisis
The Darlington County Animal Shelter is full to capacity and has an urgent need for adopters and fosters.
With hundreds of adoptable animals available, the Darlington County Humane Society (DCHS) is a great place to start your search for a pet.
Kittens and cats awaiting adoption at the overcrowded Darlington County Animal Shelter. Photo courtesy of Kathy McDonald
Adopt your next family member from the shelter and know you are bringing a health- checked, vaccinated and even spayed or neutered pet into your home.
The shelter has already taken in over 1,300 pets, mostly puppies and kittens, in the last five months with no relief in sight. Kathy McDonald of DCHS says the current influx of animals – especially young ones – is a seasonal spike seen almost every year.
“From early spring (April) to fall (October), puppies and kittens come pouring into the shelter. These months see some increase in adult pets, but their intake is steadier,” says McDonald.
Like many shelters, Darlington County takes in abandoned dogs and cats daily and sometimes runs out of cage space. When this happens, a dog or cat that has been there for many days prior may be euthanized.
Measures are being taken to address these space concerns, though the room for expansion is limited.
DCHS has a New Shelter Campaign to build a larger facility to better manage these peak periods. A needs assessment firm is working with that committee now to design a shelter to meet county needs. The county government has made several acres of land available adjacent to the present shelter grounds where this new shelter could be built.
“The county shelter is currently situated on about 1 acre of land, and DCHS is constructing a new cat building with donated money. However, with only 1 acre and limited monetary resources, the new building is small and will house only 32 cats,” notes McDonald.
DCHS is making extra transport trips to take pets to rescue groups in other states. As with us, those rescue groups have less foster support in summer months and so DCHS can only transport when rescue groups have foster or adoption homes available.
Foster homes for dogs and cats are also needed. For pets with rescue or adoption, the foster commitment is often for a brief period of time (2-4 weeks) as transports regularly take homeless pets on to their rescue groups. Fostering allows those animals without rescue commitment more time to find a forever home as it frees up space at the shelter. And the length of that time commitment depends on adoption applications.
Since Darlington County does not require pet owners to register their pets, and there are no local laws pertaining to spaying/neutering of animals, curbing the stray animal population is left up to individuals.
“Pet owners can help by altering their pets and any strays that they feed. If they cannot afford to alter the strays, they should call the shelter and get help from the Community Outreach Program. They should not wait until they have three litters of kittens/puppies and have to bring a box of 18-20 little ones to the shelter. It can happen quickly,” McDonald says.
DCHS has a Community Outreach Program to help residents who cannot afford pet spay/neuter. Owners can contact the shelter 843-398-4402 to be referred for help.
The SNIP Clinic on Second Loop Road in Florence has low-cost surgeries and basic vaccines. Call them at 843-407-7981 for information.
The Humane SPCA Fido Fixers’ mobile surgical suite makes regular visits to Darlington County. Call 803-783-1267, or go online at https://humanesc.org to check the mobile unit schedule and register pets for surgery.
Anyone can donate to Darlington County Humane Society’s New Shelter Campaign by sending donations to DCHS, PO Box 1655, Hartsville, SC 29551 with a note designating their donation for the new shelter.
Interested adopters or foster homes must already be approved or submit an application to take a pet from the shelter grounds, making space for others. For more about adopting, fostering, or rescuing from the Darlington County Humane Society, please contact darlingtonhumanepets@gmail.com or visit on Facebook at facebook.com/darlingtoncountyhs.rescue or on the website at helpdarlingtonpets.com.
You can save a life by adopting or fostering a homeless pet from Darlington County. Go to darlingtonhumane.org and fill out an application to adopt or foster right now.