Animal Friends Picks Up 32 Stray Dogs Over July Fourth Holiday

'This is the hard part — the waiting,” said  volunteer Ron Papik of Valencia, as he paced with all the anticipation of an expectant father near the entrance to the shelter off Camp Horne Road yesterday morning.

The new arrivals, though, would be furry, four-legged and delivered from certain death at five animal control facilities in Allegheny County and the Greene County Humane Society.

In what has become a semiannual tradition, the dogs — 32 strays picked up over the Independence Day holiday — have been given a second chance at life at Ohio Township's Animal Friends.

“The Fourth is a busy time for animal control,” said Animal Friends spokeswoman Jolene Miklas. “A lot of these dogs were probably pets who may have wandered away from picnics or who took off when they heard fireworks and got scared.”

Animal control facilities typically euthanize unlicensed dogs if they go unclaimed for 48 hours, Miklas said. “We rescue as many as we have cages for. Today, we liberate.”

It is a major undertaking for staff and volunteers who spend a month planning and then executing Liberation Day rescues, which also are done on New Year’s Eve.

When yesterday’s first van load of dogs approached the shelter, Papik shouted, “They’re here!” and rescue workers, organized as teams, swung into action, collaring the dogs as they removed them from their crates and lavishing them with hugs and praise. A gangly Great Dane, a Jack Russell puppy and a young pit bull — the earliest arrivals — responded, wagging their tails and sniffing their new surroundings.

Erin Butkovic of Shaler headed “Team Welcome,” which initiated the process at the shelter.

Dogs were given names that patients at the Southwestern Veterans Center suggested in advance and then were handed off to “Team Flow,” which escorted them to the medical suite for veterinary exams. They were weighed, tested for parvovirus, dewormed and vaccinated against rabies, kennel cough and distemper.

“I know when the animals come here, they’ll have a forever home,” said Butkovic, who has volunteered at the shelter for 11 years. “It’s why I do this.”

“The rewards are incredible,” agreed Holly Gumbeski of Wexford. “Dogs give unconditional love, and all it takes it the littlest bit of kindness for them to come out of their shell, especially dogs that were pets, that are used to being treated well.

“They may be terrified when we first pick them up, but when they realize they aren’t here for punishment, their demeanor changes.”

Dogs were bathed, outfitted with red, white and blue Liberation Day scarves and then assigned a home-cage in the kennel. They will be spayed and neutered and put up for adoption within days, through Animal Friends programs, including the Red Collar Society, which places older dogs, cats and rabbits, and the Golden Age Retriever program, which matches humans 60 or older with pets at least 3 years old.

“Senior citizens make wonderful owners, and many don’t want puppies,” said Animal Friends' Health and Wellness Coordinator Ann Cadman, noting that they also are entitled to reduced adoption fees.

Although permanent placement is a key Animal Friends mission, providing low-cost spaying and neutering has moved to the forefront because it means fewer animals coming into shelters, Miklas said.

Raising awareness also helps to curb overcrowding of shelters.

“A lot of our Liberation Day dogs wouldn’t be here if their owners had tagged them with a license or gotten them micro-chipped,” Miklas said.

Owners of lost pets should call animal control facilities as quickly as possible because hold times are so brief, she said. Facilities are listed on the Animal Friends website.

Animal Friends has many programs for ensuring that families and pets stay together, including socials, behavior classes and the chow wagon, which supplies 20 local food pantries with 10,000 pounds of dog and cat food annually.  Those include the pantry at St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church on Siebert Road in Ross and the Loaves and Fishes, which North Hills Community Outreach operates on Ferguson Road in Allison Park.

Individuals and local corporations donate the food, Cadman said.

“When we started this four years ago, one client said, ‘Didn’t you wonder why I took six to eight cans of tuna home each week?’ He was taking less food for himself in order to feed his cat. When he saw cat food on the shelf, he was ecstatic.”

For more on the Liberation Day dogs and other adoptable pets, see Animal Friend's adoption guidelines and applications for adopting if you're ready to get started. If you've lost your pet, find here a list of numbers to call and actions to take.

For more information visit www.thinkingoutsidethecage.org or call 412-847-7000.