Cherry is a quiet, gentle 7-year-old beagle mix who seeks out head and belly rubs and loves to follow you from room to room just to see what you’re up to. She awaits her new home, but for now she lives with about 10 other older dogs at Golden Years Haven in Topsham.
Morado is a large, 3-year-old husky mix found as a stray and never claimed by his owners. His rambunctious energy is countered by his desire to please and ability to learn quickly. He’s been waiting for close to seven months for someone to bring him home from Kennebec Valley Humane Society‘s kennel in Augusta.
Wayne is an affectionate 8-year-old boxer mix with a black-tipped wagging nub of a tail and an expressive black and white face who loves kids but not cats. Even though he’s house trained and walks nicely on a leash, he’s drawn no interest from potential adopters despite waiting at The Minnis Sanctuary in Bowdoin for his new home since February.
Across central Maine, the number of dogs needing homes is on the rise at a time when fewer people are willing or able to adopt them. Advocates say both ends of that equation are tied to a struggling economy and the tight housing market.
Now, resources at rescues and shelters are stretched as they seek fosters to care for dogs while they work to place adoptable dogs in permanent homes.
Making hard decisions
Katie Lisnick, executive director of Maine Humane, an organization dedicated to supporting animal welfare groups including shelters, rescues, farm animal sanctuaries and wildlife rehabilitators, said there has been a steady uptick in needs as those organizations struggle with the influx of animals in need in the last three or four years.
With some people struggling to pay their bills, Lisnick said more dog owners are surrendering their pets to shelters or rescues because they can’t afford to care for them, especially as the cost of veterinary care has risen.
More people are losing their housing and finding a new place to live is more challenging with pets. If they can find rental housing that allows pets, some landlords charge sometimes nonrefundable pet fees.
At the same time, fewer people are adopting dogs as they struggle to pay their bills and feed their families, as they’re less likely to feel they can take on the added expense.
“Families across the state are having to make these really horrible decisions, between keeping something they love, or finding housing,” Lisnick, who previously worked for Androscoggin Humane Society in Lewiston, said. “A lot of folks just can’t make it work anymore, especially if they have multiple animals. Then you combine that larger number of animals in need with a slowdown in adoptions, because people can’t afford to take on another animal.”
She said dogs, especially large dogs, sit in rescues or shelters longer than they used to, and many are highly adoptable.
Caring for the dogs
Wayne, the boxer mix, is one of 20 to 30 dogs at the sanctuary, which is also the home of founder Carly Minnis. Her husband, Jeff, and son Benji help with the dogs. Some were surrendered by local owners, while others were plucked off the euthanasia list of Texas shelters before their time ran out and brought to Maine via a licensed transport service. The dogs are on those lists due to their age or medical problems.
Carly Minnis’ life of rescuing animals — Minnis Sanctuary has lots of dogs, but also rescued cats, pigs, goats, chickens, ducks and geese — started with her career as a licensed veterinary technician. She took in animals that people couldn’t or wouldn’t provide with needed care.
Last year, the Minnis Sanctuary placed 206 animals in new homes, and so far this year they have placed almost 100 more.
Both Carly and Jeff Minnis work full-time. She works days in veterinary care and he drives buses for Concord Coach in the evening, so someone is always home with the dogs.
As long as they get along with other dogs, the dogs in their care live in the main part of their home with them. Some of those dogs will live out their days there due to their medical needs and her veterinary training. Others are available for adoption, with Facebook being their most popular avenue for getting their adoptable dogs out there for people to see.
Because sanctuary space is tight, they also seek people willing to foster dogs. Currently, they have five. They also welcome volunteers to help, writing social media posts, walking and bathing dogs, and just coming to spend time with dogs.
If they had more foster homes, they could save more dogs.
The same is true for Golden Years Haven, run by Heather and Paul Green in their Topsham home. They have only one foster and seek more.
Heather Green said they want to save four dogs in Texas, and another four in New Mexico, but they’ve got no place to put them, even though Golden Years Haven would pay for their care while they are being fostered.
She said if those dogs aren’t rescued, they will be put down.
While Cherry, the beagle mix, and other dogs at Golden Years Haven are adoptable, most of the elderly dogs at the Green’s home are not.
Heather Green, who has been involved in rescuing dogs for 25 years, said some dogs are so old and have special needs, or are so loved by the couple and happy in their home that they aren’t seeking new homes for those dogs. They are home.
Paul Green said they noticed some senior citizens who would enjoy the company of a dog but don’t adopt one due to the cost and concerns they may not outlive the dog, leaving it without a home.
The Greens hope their new Seniors Saving Seniors program, which would match a senior adoptable dog with a senior human will knock down those obstacles. The dog would be adopted, the program would pay for all vet care, food and medications, and the dog could return to the rescue if needed.
They hope to network with other rescues and shelters to spread the idea.
Networking is a common theme for many people involved in rescuing dogs. Rather than view other rescues or shelters as competition for adopters, fosters and funds, they see them as fellow travelers on the same mission.
“For me, I just want to help the dog, even if it’s not one of ours,” Heather Green said.
For Green, who works as a nurse and picks up extra shifts when she can to help pay for their dog rescue efforts, it’s personal. A U.S. Army veteran, she credits dogs with saving her life while serving in Iraq. Green said she was sleeping when barking dogs woke her. As she got out of bed to check on them, incoming fire struck the spot where she had been sleeping.
Minnis said she rescues dogs because she doesn’t know what else she would even do, without them.
“As crazy as it is, and as much as the stress has probably taken years off my life, I literally am living my dream, I don’t know what else I’d do with my life,” she said.
Hillary Roberts, executive director of Kennebec Valley Humane Society in Augusta, said she appreciates the work being done by rescues, including bringing them in from other states where they are less likely to be adopted.
Roberts hopes rescues will also consider taking dogs out of Maine shelters and place them with fosters, because a kennel environment can be stressful for dogs.
“Most dogs would do better in foster than in a traditional shelter,” Roberts said. “We have a beautiful new facility here, but it can still be stressful. Dogs are still kenneled next to other dogs, seeing and smelling things that are stressful. We see signs of kennel stress in some of our longer-term dogs.”
Roberts said the humane society currently has about 35 dogs.
The Kennebec Valley Humane Society also sometimes has dogs transported to its Augusta shelter from southern states, including some earlier this year with Road Trip Home Animal Rescue.
“We are committed to continuing to transport when we have space and resources to do so,” Roberts said. “When you see more local dogs needing homes, it is natural to wonder why any organization would bring dogs here from another state. At KVHS we believe we can — and should — do both. It’s a balancing act with space and foster homes, but we want to continue to try to meet the needs of as many dogs as we can and we celebrate the work that our partners in rescue and other shelters are doing to try to achieve the same goal.”
Seeking help
While historical data on how many dog rescues and shelters there are in Maine wasn’t available from the state Animal Welfare Program, Lisnick said the total number of state-licensed facilities is on the high end at the moment, at about 150, including some that opened in the past year.
One way Maine Humane is helping dog rescues, shelters, and other helpers is working with some 60 other organizations and companies in a food pantry program that brings truckloads of animal food donated through the nonprofit Greater Good Charities.
In the group effort, Maine Humane pays to ship donated food. In mid-August, that was 26 pallets of food filling a tractor trailer. Members of their hub of helpers transport pallets of food to rescues and shelters and others in their part of the state. They’ve helped with five such shipments so far this year. They’d do it once a month, if they had more food donated for distribution.
“Right now organizations across the state need help, financial support, supplies, and they really need adopters,” Lisnick said. “So, if you’ve been thinking about it, please do, because now is the time. If you have the ability of bringing another animal into your life, visit a rescue or shelter.”
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Keith Edwards can be reached at kedwards@centralmaine.com.