Ithaca, N.Y. — The SPCA of Tompkins County has rescued a dozen dogs from a “high kill shelter” in rural Alabama.
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“Most of them were pulled the day before their euthanize date,” said Jim Bouderau, executive director of the local SPCA.
The 12 dogs arrived in Binghamton last Friday and are all hound-lab mixes, according to Bourderau, who took the animals back to Ithaca with another volunteer.
“We are thrilled that we are once again in a position to have the space available to help beyond our own community,” Bouderau said.
Bouderau explained in an interview that the SPCA of Tompkins County — a “no kill” shelter — was contacted by two shelters in poor, rural parts of Alabama that do put down their dogs. Those shelters have many more animals than they have space.
“The scope of their problem is much bigger than they can handle, and that’s the case for a lot of shelters,” he says.
The shelter was able to rescue the dogs because of a grant from the ASPCA and SubaruUSA’s “Share the Love” program. This subsidy pays for transportation costs at shelters in the program, allowing the dogs to be taken from Alabama to Binghamton.
“It is an extraordinary gesture on the part of the ASPCA and SubaruUSA to earmark funds for the local shelters performing this life saving work,” Bouderau said.
Allowing the pets to come to Ithaca, Bouderau added, will also free up some room at the Alabama shelters for new dogs.
The dogs are undergoing medical and behavioral examinations and “will be spayed/neutered prior to being placed likely next week in the Dorothy and Roy Park Pet Adoption Center,” according to the SPCA.
“Our community continues to step forward to adopt these southern ladies and gentlemen and to support us financially, so we expect we will find them homes rapidly,” Bouderau said in a statement.
“We love having the opportunity to help these dogs start their new lives.”