SCRAPS kennels completely full of adoptable dogs | News

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service — or SCRAPS — says the kennels with adoptable dogs at their Spokane Valley facility are completely full and are asking for help from the community.

“We — along with shelters across the country — are seeing huge increases in intakes of medium and large dogs, intakes much higher than previous years at this time,” said Lindsey Soffes, director of SCRAPS.

Soffes says SCRAPS is also seeing reduced adoption rates.

“We don’t know exactly what’s driving it, but we expect the housing crisis to definitely play a role, and other post-pandemic lifestyle changes for people,” Soffes said.

The byproduct of that?

“Amazing, incredible, adoptable dogs are sitting here waiting for their adopters for much longer than we’ve typically seen,” Kaylee Huntsman said.

As a senior shelter technician at SCRAPS, Huntsman sees the impacts longer shelter stays have on dogs and their behaviors.

One way people can help in addition to adopting? To favor.

“They can calm down a lot, they’re a lot less anxious,” Huntsman said. “They’re in a home environment, so they feel like they can see the dog, without it being scared.”

As Easter approaches, Soffes says SCRAPS has 40 bunnies in his care, including foster families, but that comes with a sweet reminder.

“We’re just asking people not to treat animals like commodities, and that there are many ways to celebrate rabbits in our community without spontaneously adopting them, if you’re not sure it’s going to be the right thing for you. you,” Soffes said.

Lots of people were at SCRAPS on Sunday afternoon, which Soffes is grateful for.

“It reflects what we’ve seen with our community in the past,” Soffes said. “Every time we put out a message for our animals, it’s the most wonderful feeling to see people step in and out, because we’re all here for them.”

As a bonus, SCRAPS waives adoption fees for shelter dogs and rabbits. The only thing required to bring home a four-legged friend is payment for a pet license.

For more information on SCRAPS, visit their website by clicking hereor their Facebook page by clicking here.