The Cumberland County animal shelter has seen an uptick in dogs being brought there, which had followed years of decline during the past decade. For some pets, the consequences can be fatal.
Raleigh Firefighters and Animal Control rescue dog from storm drain
Firefighters and animal control reunited Dagger the dog with his owner after he got stuck 15 feet down in a storm drain in Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Loose dogs are becoming a growing nuisance for residents in Cumberland County.
- Cumberland County Animal Services has seen a rise in stray dog intake, although still below pre-pandemic levels.
- National trends show an increase in stray dogs, with a low return-to-owner rate.
Shannon McCall is faithful as the Postal Service in walking Remy, her 4-year-old English bulldog-pit bull mix. Rain or shine.
“When it’s 20 degrees outside, I’ll walk her,” she said.
But lately she has had to navigate an inconvenience, we can say nuisance, beyond inclement weather. It is the loose dogs that roam her neighborhood off Bailey Lake Road in southwest Cumberland County.
I talked to her April 29. Just the previous evening, she spotted a loose dog when she took Remy out.
“As soon as we left my yard and started walking towards the back, we stopped,” she said. “We run back up my porch, and I hurry up and get her back inside. I couldn’t walk her right then. I had to wait a little while, and go to the front of the neighborhood instead of towards the back.”
McCall said she seems to see more loose dogs these days. She believes it’s inexcusable.
“People are not securing their fences, they’re not repairing their fences,” she said. “I feel like they don’t care anymore. And I also feel like people abandoning dogs is also a problem.”
Cumberland Animal Services director: More dogs are being brought in
The problem is not just in McCall’s head.
Elaine Smith, director of Cumberland County Animal Services, said April 29 that the shelter on Corporation Drive saw an uptick in stray dogs being brought there, which had followed years of decline during the past decade. In 2015, the shelter took in 2,920 stray dogs and puppies, which by 2019 had dropped to 2,419. By 2020 — due to the COVID-19 pandemic — that number slid to 1,700, she said.
“Since then, we’ve experienced a gradual increase, with 2,381 stray dogs and puppies entering our shelter in 2024,” she said. “This uptick is likely connected to pandemic-era challenges in accessing veterinary services, which slowed spay and neuter rates across the country.”
But Smith added: “While the recent increase is notable, our current numbers are still well below pre-pandemic levels and far lower than 2012, when intakes exceeded 4,100 stray dogs.”
Shelter space: Euthanasia is the fate for many ‘friendly adoptable’ dogs
The shelter is not a no-kill shelter, and euthanasia is the fate awaiting hundreds of animals each year that are not claimed or rescued.
More than 800 dogs and more than 500 cats were euthanized in 2024, Smith told the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners at its March 13 meeting. She said intake for dogs was a “little higher” than for cats. Hundreds of animals are euthanized for severe behavior or severe illnesses.
But 150 animals in 2024 were euthanized because the shelter ran out of space, she said.
“We only have so many kennels,” she said. “If there are five open kennels and six dogs come in today, then if I don’t have a dog leave through a positive action, adopted, rescue, whatever, then unfortunately, a dog will have to be euthanized. So these are sometimes healthy, friendly, adoptable dogs.”
She later told commissioners: “What I really want to do is get that 150 roughly animals that are just being euthanized for space, I want that number to be zero,” she said.
When it comes to the shelter’s most depressing statistic, Smith was able to report to commissioners a trend in the right direction. In 2012, just 44% of dogs left the shelter alive; in 2024, the shelter saved 81%. For cats, the figure in 2012 was less than 10%; in 2024, the number was 86%.
Smith noted that no-kill shelters have a live release rate of 90% or better.
Shelter count: Loose dogs roaming is part of U.S. trend
As in our county, the number of loose dogs roaming nationally is up. Between 2022 and 2023, intake of dogs at shelters “increased significantly,” according to the most recent data from Shelter Animals Count, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that keeps a national database of shelter animals. The numbers showed a 10% increase in 2023 from 2022, and a dramatic 30% increase in 2022 from 2021, the nonprofit states. Cats, meanwhile, saw a 1% decrease in shelter intake between 2022 and 2021.
However a pet comes to wander off — whether without the owner knowing or deliberately released by the owner — the prospect of the dog coming back is not as favorable as you might think if they wind up in a shelter. For 2023 and the two years preceding, only about 10% of animals that entered shelters were eventually returned to their owners, says Shelter Animals Count.
What we can do: ‘Never allow them to roam off-leash’
Those statistics can be pretty bleak, but we are not powerless to change them.
For one, dog owners can do a better job securing their pets, like Shannon McCall suggests.
Smith with Animal Control would co-sign that opinion.
“Always keep pets safely confined to your property and never allow them to roam off-leash,” she said. “A few seconds can be enough for them to wander out of sight or into danger.”
Smith also encouraged spaying and neutering, which she called “the single most effective way to reduce stray animal populations and prevent unwanted litters. It also helps reduce roaming behavior in dogs and cats.”
She said people should try to “reunite friendly strays” by posting a photo on community platforms like PawBoost, Nextdoor or local Facebook groups.
“Many pets are found just a short distance from home, and these tools often lead to a quick reunion, saving lives and easing the burden on our shelter,” she said.
Social media connection: A happy ending
McCall is a witness.
She recently shared on NextDoor a picture of a roaming dog that was clearly with puppies.
“A lady actually contacted me, came to my neighborhood, and rescued the puppies and took them to PetSmart, and the last one just got adopted last weekend.”
Yay.
Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com.
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