ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – As July 4 approaches, Orange County Animal Services is raising awareness about the surge in abandoned dogs and the need for responsible pet ownership.
“Dogs aren’t just spawning in the street. They are being abandoned, they are being dumped by people who live somewhere else or even residents of our own community,” said Bryant Almeida with Orange County Animal Services. “The biggest message we tell people is: you have to come into the shelter and go with your heart. You may come in with a blueprint of a dog, but you have to come in here and look inside every kennel and look at every dog.”
The shelter is always filled with animals in need of homes, but the numbers spike during certain times of the year, especially around holidays.
Fireworks during the Fourth of July holiday can be particularly stressful for dogs, often causing them to run away from home.
“Your dog doesn’t care about fireworks, your dog will be terrified to see fireworks, so they don’t need to be out there outside,” Almeida said.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) advices pet owners play white noise to drown out firework noise, keep them indoors during fireworks and make sure they have proper tags or microchips.
OCAR currently has about 200 cats and 200 dogs at its shelter.
Thanks to a sponsorship by Webb Engineering, all pet adoptions are free until Sunday.