Local organization gathers stray pets in effort to find their forever homes

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – On Tuesday, we reported about the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society being filled beyond capacity.

Stray cats and dogs are an issue in all parts of Lowndes County, especially this time of year. Spring and early Summer are Kitten and Puppy Season.

One by one stray cats and dogs were loaded up on a van in an effort to find them forever home.

It’s a longtime problem in our area. Stray cats and dogs seem to be almost everywhere. Some of them find their way into area animal shelters, but there’s only so much room, and some towns don’t even have them.

These scenes play out every couple of weeks, area Humane Society staffers and Sweet Paws volunteers meet to load up. The van this Friday morning was filled with 60 pets.

“We decided that we would try to reduce those numbers by spaying and neutering the adults, returning those, and removing the kittens from the colonies,” said Doumit.

The organization is filled with volunteers who foster the animals, make sure they have their vaccinations and other treatments, and get them socialized and ready to head north.

Doumit said once the pets are in the van they are on the road to a partnering agency in Massachusetts.

“The shelters are not equipped to take in all of the kittens that we take on, so we were forced to look for an organization that can transport out of the south.”

If those pets don’t get to their forever home they circle back.

“The reason that a lot of my fosters hang in with OCC is that they know there is a 100% guarantee on these cats and dogs that if this home does not work out, they get to come back to this organization and try again,” said Doumit.

Doumit said it can be a challenge to maintain all the cats and dogs but the community can do one thing to help them alleviate that issue.

“There will simply never be enough homes anywhere in the United States that can place all of the animals that are coming in, cats or dogs. If we don’t spay or neuter, we just aren’t going to make a dent in this. I would just encourage people if an animal shows up at your house, don’t wait to see what happens with this animal. Go ahead and be proactive,” said Doumit.

This was the third transport for the group so far this month.

To learn more, visit sweetpawsrescue.org

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