Lack of Space Real Killer at Animal Shelters

A black female Labrador follows commands for Gladstone Animal Control Officer.

A stranger can tell quickly that they are siblings, but not solely based on their looks. The way they share in everything reveals their closeness. They take turns plucking toys from their big rubber tub, and they race to reach their balls as they bounce to the floor. Their tug-of-war rope is frayed at both ends.

The two sisters, which are black Labrador Retrievers, didn’t have names when they arrived at the Gladstone Animal Shelter in August 2010, according to Animal Control Officer Beth Gillespie. That’s when a woman called animal control to report that her neighbors moved and left the one-year-old Labs behind. Six months later at the shelter, they still have no names. Names aren’t necessary to form a bond, though, Gillespie said.

“We get pretty attached to them,” she said.

Darcy Meadows, also a Gladstone Animal Control Officer, said the two Labradors are young and healthy. Since time constraints are not a major consideration for euthanizing animals kept at Gladstone Animal Shelter, the dogs have a chance to be adopted.

“Euthanasia is the last resort,” Meadows said. “Lack of space is our biggest enemy.”

Three other northland cities – Platte City, Parkville and Smithville – also report lack of space as the leading cause for euthanizing stray dogs. Factors such as age, health and aggressiveness can sign a dog’s death warrant if a shelter reaches capacity, according to Robyn Bousum, who is the vice-president of Friends of Parkville Animal Shelter (FOPAS). 

A problem that worsens the issue of space is receiving dogs from Kansas City and/or unincorporated Clay and Platte counties, all of which have their own animal shelters. Wilson and Meadows said they strongly suspect they are receiving stray dogs that have not been found within their city limits. However, FOPAS accepts dogs from other areas such as Platte City and Plattsburg.

“We try to help those that don’t have another outlet,” Bousum said.

Platte City does not have its own animal shelter. Stray dogs found within the city limits are housed whenever possible at Jackson Animal Hospital, located just outside the city limits, according to Platte City Chief of Police Carl Mitchell.

For many years, Smithville kept its stray dogs at the water department. Chief of Police Ken Wilson said the dogs were kept in outdoor cages, which were covered partially with a roof. During very cold weather, employees of the city’s water department would come in on their own time to bring the dogs inside for warmth.

Then a new animal shelter was built. The funding came entirely from donations gathered in the name of 17-year-old Megan Kitchen, a Smithville High School student who died in a 2008 car accident. Laurie Kissinger, Kitchen’s mother, said her daughter loved animals, and this cause would make her proud. The animal shelter was completed on Dec. 18, 2010, just in time to beat the first blizzard of the winter.

“As the snow hit, I was walking the last dog inside,” she said.

One of two sister Labrador Retrievers which have been housed at the Gladstone Animal Shelter for six months.

The shelters are funded in different ways. Smithville’s shelter was built entirely through donations of time, skill and money. But the food, dog supplies and veterinarian bills are paid out of Smithville’s general fund. Much of Gladstone’s funding comes from the city budget, according to Angie Lee, the animal shelter’s supervisor. Platte City refunds Jackson Animal Hospital its incurred costs by fining the owners once they are located, Mitchell said. Volunteers, according to the website, do almost all of the work at FOPAS. Also, Parkville’s shelter is funded through donations and fund-raising events. The cities work closely with rescue groups, too.

“We’re going to do everything to get (the dogs) adopted out,” Wilson said.

The folks at Gladstone Animal Shelter are doing all they can to find homes for the two sister Labs with no names. The two have been through much together, but Gillespie doesn’t think they will end up in the same adoptive home together. She said it is better to split them apart in order to save them both. For now the two black Labradors, one with a bit more white than the other, share a large pen, eat together and dream together when they sleep – perhaps of a new home.