Pens at Maricopa County Animal Care and Control’s West Valley Animal Care Center are over capacity, and some are holding two animals. “It’s not the shelter’s fault. They get a lot of heat from the community around these choices. But what do you do when you have more animals coming in than your kennels and adopters?” said Leanna Taylor, CEO of the Arizona Pet Project. Photo taken in Phoenix on Jan. 22, 2024. (Photo by Emily Mai/Cronkite News)
Kathi Douglas, a Maricopa County Animal Care and Control volunteer, takes Joan, a shelter dog, for a walk at the West Valley Animal Care Center. Photo taken in Phoenix on Jan. 22, 2024. (Photo by Emily Mai/Cronkite News)
Coco, a shelter dog at the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control West Valley Animal Care Center, came to the shelter in August 2023 and has been awaiting adoption ever since. Photo taken in Phoenix on Jan. 22, 2024. (Photo by Emily Mai/Cronkite News)
PHOENIX – Walking into the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control (MCACC) West Valley Animal Care Center, visitors are greeted by an endless line of barking dogs, about two to a cage, with the organization’s more than 100 dogs beyond capacity on Monday.
“This is both a human and an animal crisis,” said Leanna Taylor, CEO of the Arizona Pet Project, which works with shelters across the state to keep pets and owners together.
Taylor said that as Arizona residents have struggled financially in recent years, more feel they have no choice but to give their pets to a shelter.
“Our shelters are a canary in the coal mine for what’s going on in our communities,” Taylor said. “The increase in housing means we have a community that is really struggling.”
Despite previous holiday seasons seeing an increase in adoption numbers, the 2023 holidays saw a drop in adoption rates at MCACC.
“A lot of people don’t have a place to adopt, or people turn their dogs in to us because they don’t think they have any other options,” said MCACC Director Kim Powell.
A put his foot on the fence around his kennel at the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control West Valley Animal Care Center. Photo taken in Phoenix on Jan. 22, 2024. (Photo by Emily Mai/Cronkite News)
Large dog breeds in particular loom large at the two MCACC shelters, particularly huskies, German shepherds and pit bulls. Pet size and breed restrictions in rental housing throughout the area may be one reason behind this increase.
Despite the challenges facing shelters and pet owners, there is hope.
“We have to do it every day,” Powell said. “Within the last year, we’ve gone under new administration (at the shelter), we’ve gone through new policies, we’re doing different programs to try to improve the shelter so we can better serve the pets in our care as well the community as well.”
MCACC now has a fully staffed veterinary team. The organization is also in the process of building a new shelter to replace the current East Valley Animal Care Center, which is slated to open in May.
Features of the new shelter include larger kennels that provide blinders for dogs to reduce their stress levels and limit the spread of disease; nearly 21 play yards, some larger than currently available, allowing for dog play groups that are stable for socialization; and a state-of-the-art veterinary clinic.
Powell said the new shelter will better reflect the organization’s values. “We don’t want to be known as ‘pound.’ Shelter us. We care about dogs. We are more than that.”
MCACC introduced shelter diversion navigators last year to work with people who feel they need to surrender their pets for any number of reasons. Navigators put owners at ease, talk to them about why they are giving up a pet, and guide them through their options.
And shelters are not the only ones involved in this process. MCACC’s New Hope partners help find new homes for dogs who may no longer be sheltered, due to medical emergencies, kennel breakdowns or other problems. In return, MCACC is offering $250 for each dog taken off the euthanasia list through the end of March.
“We want to support them (New Hope partners) because sometimes we can’t make sure the pet gets spay/neuter surgery before they leave if they go to a rescue partner,” Powell said. “Giving them funding for medical and behavioral expenses we hope will at least help.”
Christine Conroy, founder of Love Them All Sanctuary and Rescue, plays with Clarice, a shelter dog who came to the sanctuary to treat Valley fever on her front leg and bone lesions. Photo taken in Scottsdale on Jan. 31, 2024. (Photo by Emily Mai/Cronkite News)
Care and adoption of dogs
A New Hope partner, Love Them All Sanctuary and Rescue, has been working with MCACC since opening in June 2020. The nonprofit’s recent mission is to take in dogs in need of immediate medical care that Maricopa County may not be equipped to provide.
Although primarily a foster-based rescue, Love Them All’s new sanctuary in Scottsdale houses up to 20 dogs as it attends to the animals’ medical needs and works to place them in foster homes. family
“I started fostering for another rescue here in Scottsdale, and they were great … but they didn’t focus on e-listed dogs (those on the euthanasia list), and they didn’t take all breeds,” says Love Them All founder Christine Conroy. “Those are the kinds of people that always tug at my heartstrings … so I kind of decided to start my own rescue … and kind of changed the way rescue is understood and the way it’s run here in Arizona.”
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About 60% of the dogs that come into the sanctuary are large breed dogs, with recent weeks bringing in many pit bull mixes, he said.
“We were able to provide more specialized care and we just put together all the resources we needed for that dog to eventually be rehabilitated and then adopted into the perfect home,” Conroy said.
Dogs awaiting care at the sanctuary are kept on a strict schedule of medical assistance, enrichment and care.
“We really want a really good balance of everything for the dog that that dog needs on a daily basis,” Conroy said. “So, that’s rest, that’s play, that’s enrichment, that’s mental stimulation, that’s training, that’s cuddle time … you name it.”
Since adding the facility, Conroy and staff have been able to better evaluate each incoming dog, from medical history and needs to behavioral skills, so the organization can place them in foster homes.
Conroy said her sanctuary is in the process of adding space for an additional 30 to 40 dogs to house while they await foster homes.
Those who foster dogs through Love Them All are given full financial support and regular check-ins from Conroy and his staff as they work to prepare each dog for adoption.
Coco, a shelter dog at the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control West Valley Animal Care Center, came to the shelter in August 2023 and has been awaiting adoption ever since. Photo taken in Phoenix on Jan. 22, 2024. (Photo by Emily Mai/Cronkite News)
Avoiding separation of pet and owner
The Arizona Pet Project’s shelter prevention model was launched in 2015 when the organization found that more than 40% of animals sent to shelters were due to owners’ financial situations or crises.
“Our entire organization is designed to remove barriers to a family’s ability to keep their pet in their home,” Taylor said.
Among those most in need are low-income minority families. The Humane Society of the United States has included the Arizona Pet Project as a partner organization of the “Pets for Life” program to help those families.
“It’s door-to-door outreach,” Taylor said. “The goal of the program is really to reach out to our low-income, highest-need communities to provide full support for them and their family pets — whether that’s food, vaccines, supplies.”
The program offers support in English and Spanish to create as much accessibility as possible to those in need of services.
The Arizona Pet Project offers resources from housing to veterinary care to licenses and more.
What each of these organizations hopes to convey is that there are resources available to those in need to keep pets and families together, regardless of financial crises or circumstances.
