NEWS: SafeHaven takes in rescue dogs

SafeHaven takes in rescue dogs

By Jennifer Moody, Albany Democrat-Herald

Posted: Friday, December 16, 2011 7:00 am 

Staff members at SafeHaven Humane Society don’t look much like Santa’s reindeer. But like Rudolph in the classic Christmas cartoon, they’re doing their best to find new homes for refugees from the Island of Misfit Dogs. The “island,” in this case, is Southern California, where shelters quickly fill with animals facing the equivalent of doggie death row. 

SafeHaven is partners with the Shelter Transport Animal Rescue Team, a California nonprofit that pays for transporting dogs from high-kill shelters in California to out-of-state rescue groups and humane societies. Every four to six weeks, START makes a rescue round, bringing dogs to partner shelters in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. 

The most recent round of rescues brought 250 dogs to Oregon, 40 of them to SafeHaven. SafeHaven became a partner a little more than a year ago and usually participates about once a month. But even before that, the shelter would occasionally send people to California to rescue dogs that stood a good chance of adoption up north.

The no-kill shelter doesn’t have space to accommodate the immigrants — plenty of Linn-area dogs also need its services — so sometimes it can take just one or two dogs. Twenty dogs — poodle, terrier, Chihuahua and Dachshund mixes, including one Dachshund mix with five puppies — made up the latest group, which arrived Thursday. Four more dogs are expected next week, and 16 came last week, although one, a pregnant German shepherd-border collie mix, gave birth to nine puppies the day after she arrived.

Director Chris Storm is confident they’ll all find homes soon. “We can’t keep little dogs in the shelter,” she said. “We had a litter of six today and they’re all gone.” SafeHaven has the capacity for about 30 dogs, or 60 if they’re small and get along. It also fosters puppies. It averages three to four dog adoptions a day, so the new dogs shouldn’t crowd anybody out, said Marti Cersovski, the humane society’s marketing communications manager.

Unfortunately, no similar rescue team exists for cats, at least not that Cersovski knows about. The stray or surrendered cat population continues to overwhelm SafeHaven, she said. 

On Highway 34 just west of the Interstate 5 interchange, SafeHaven is open from noon to 6 p.m. seven days a week Tuesday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Adoption fees pay for animals to be spayed or neutered, microchipped, vet-checked and vaccinated. 

Although it happens only occasionally, Cersovski said, some people who adopt an animal do end up bringing it back to SafeHaven, often saying they didn’t realize how much time or energy was involved. It’s important to be fully prepared for all the particulars before taking on that responsibility, she said. “It’s a lifetime commitment for the life of that dog or cat,” she said. “Especially at this time of year, we want them all to go home for the holidays, but we want them to go home forever.”

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