Animal Control Plans to Stop Seasonal Dog Dumpings

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By Chelsea Kopta

Summary

The Tri-Cities Animal Shelter & Control Services is getting flooded with calls about abandoned animals in the fields. The theory: seasonal workers aren't just leaving the work, they're leaving the dogs behind in the orchard too. Now, animal control officials have a plan to change that.

Story Published: Nov 11, 2009 at 7:14 PM PST

PASCO -- At the Tri-Cities Animal Shelter & Control Services in Pasco, little dogs like chihuahuas or very big dogs are the first clue of abandonment. Workers said, they are the pets most often left behind after a harvest.

"As soon as the picking season over we're being hit," Tri-Cities Animal Shelter & Control Services Director Angela Zilar said. "Their owners have left and they leave them behind."

Whether it's calls to the shelter, or listings on Craigslist and the Giant Nickel, Zilar said she's scanned at least half-a-dozen ads for animals found in orchards in the last month alone. Not to mention the people who've walked into the shelter with furry friends in tow found that they found in a field.

"(They're) saying 'hey, this dog was left or abandoned in the orchards and we're taking care of puppies or this dog I found in orchards or fields," Zilar said.

Zilar said it's hard to deny the trend. Last year, the shelter received about a dozen complaints a day about animals. This year, the numbers have almost doubled. Some of those calls likely include pet owners impacted by the economy. But Zilar is convinced there's no coincidence in the timing. "This is incredibly difficult to tackle," she said.

It's a burden the shelter takes on without much choice. But rather than put pets down or rely only on volunteers, animal control has a new plan.

"We want to raise awareness with orchard owners, farmers, wheat farmers, alfalfa," Zilar said.

It's still in the works, but Tri City Animal Control is already planning on orientations with farmers, talks at trade shows, whatever it takes to tackle dumped dogs at the source.

"We can't force the farmers to we hope at some point they could help," the director said.

And she's hopeful they will. So dogs aren't left behind when the fields are no longer ripe for the picking. They hope to have the program up and running before the harvest season next year.