The staff and volunteers at Aurora Animal Care and Control had reason to celebrate when I recently stopped by the River Street shelter. Parsnip, the friendly, almost 3-year-old pit bull that had been at the facility for nearly two years, overlooked because of his brown color and misunderstood breed, finally found his “forever home.” His new owner was a woman who, according to Aurora Animal Care and Control Manager Kameron DeBoer, had her eye on him for a while but also had other family members living with her who had dogs.
When they moved out, the “time was right,” she said, a smile on her face. “We are really excited for him.” It’s success stories like these that also help keep the 27-year-old shelter manager enthused about a job that can get physically and emotionally demanding.
Overseeing a city shelter with more than 174 animals is not easy. Last month alone, some 250 animals were taken in, a record high over the past decade, says DeBoer. It’s an unfortunate trend shelters across the country are seeing in the aftermath of the pandemic, where people were working from home and wanted pets that now are more of a burden.
And the economy doesn’t help, she noted. Inflation has hit pocketbooks hard, and rising prices also include the cost of pet care. The good news is that the shelter, which will only euthanize for medical or behavior reasons, works closely with rescue groups, and does plenty of of social media outreach to move the animals as quickly as possibl.