THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 9, 1994 TAG: 9409070144
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The hot, uncomfortable days of late summer are referred to as ``dog days.'' The name comes from the Dog Star, which rises and sets with the sun during this period.
Forty-six canines at the Portsmouth Humane Society were hoping the period would live up to its name, as August drew to a close. The dogs would like to rise from their pens and set out for a comfortable home with their new owners.
Unfortunately, the odds are unfavorable that the dogs will find homes.
``Only about 25 to 30 percent (of the shelter's pet population) will be adopted. The rest are euthanized,'' said Lewis Tefft, executive director of the shelter.
Adoptions decreased during the summer. This fact and the facts of life combine to put the shelter in a double-bind.
``Female dogs have litters twice a year, generally around January and in July or August,'' Tefft said. ``Cats have their first litter of kittens about April and then on through October.''
The shelter can house 78 dogs and 73 cats. The feline population was at capacity Sept. 1.
Other conditions exacerbate the animal shelter's problems.
``The city has no pound for the pets,'' Tefft said. ``We get about 50 percent of our animals from the Animal Control Bureau and the other half from pet owners.''
On Aug. 2, the Portsmouth Humane Society received 22 cats from a house on Arlington Place. Their former owner had been committed to Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg.
``I have to wait for the judge and the city attorney to tell me what to do about them,'' Tefft said.
There might be a silver lining in the dog day clouds of late summer for the homeless pets and the animal shelter.
``Adoptions usually pick up in September and October,'' Tefft said. ``We have a difficult time with adult dogs and cats, unless they're poodles or something like that. We do pretty well adopting kittens and medium-aged cats, and adoptions on weekends ought to be better in the fall.''
The winter holiday season brings the biggest increase in pet adoptions. That will be too late for the animals currently at the shelter.
Unlike many other problems, this one has a relatively simple solution.
``Overpopulation of the pet problem wouldn't exist if people had their pets spayed or neutered,'' Tefft said. ``If people had only one pet to take care of, they would do that most likely.''
The Portsmouth Humane Society is at 2704 Frederick Boulevard. The phone number is 397-6004. by CNB