Owen County Friends
of Animals, in its third year, has facilitated the adoption
of 225 dogs. And that’s just in the past 13 months. In
a county where resources are limited, OCFA is the only reason
many impounded dogs are still living today.
The non-profit organization got its start in 2003 when Hilari
Gentry found a coon dog in Monterey. “It was in bad shape,”
she said. Gentry had cared for the animal for several months
when it was picked up by the dog warden and euthanized within
24 hours.
According to Kentucky’s revised statutes, “impounded
dogs shall be kept for not less than five days before being
humanely euthanized.” Gentry and a group of concerned
citizens took the issue to the fiscal court and while that body
is verbally supportive of the OCFA’s cause, it is unable
to offer financial assistance at this time.
All operating costs are covered by tax-deductible donations
and adoption fees.
But sometimes that’s not enough.
With the high volume of dogs being rescued by OCFA, their resources
are wearing thin. There is no animal shelter in the county,
so any dog brought to the OCFA is immediately placed in foster
care. At press time, there were 45 dogs in foster care, many
of them within the county.
Parties interested in becoming foster parents to a dog need
only contact OCFA. A representative will assist in setting up
a kennel, but care of the animal is the foster parent’s
responsibility.
To get the word out about adoptable dogs, OCFA posts on petfinder.com
and participates in several area programs to promote the adoption
of impounded animals.
Because of Internet posting, Gentry says there have been adoption
requests from as far as Tokyo, Japan.
OCFA does not have the resources to transport a dog to Japan,
but they now receive regular contributions from there. Gentry
says the majority of dogs adopted from OCFA go to out-of-county
owners. And a surprising number have been placed in out-of-state
homes.
Zoe, an impounded Rottweiler, now lives in Maryland with her
own dog trainer.
Gentry seems particularly fond of Shelby, a female beagle/hound/terrier
mix, that was found with a metal collar completely embedded
in her neck. “The flesh had grown over it but it was an
infected, horrible open wound,” Gentry recalls. After
an operation, Shelby is now living on a farm as a loving companion
to an
elderly gentleman.
On the first and third Saturdays of each month, OCFA is at PetsMart
in Florence. PetsMart Charities will host its annual Adoption
Weekend Sept. 15-17, with a goal of finding homes for 15,000
pets.
OCFA also participates in Rescue Waggin’, a program which
transports dogs from areas of high pet overpopulation —
where they face almost certain euthanasia — to shelters
in areas where adoptable dogs are in demand.
All of this is leading toward OCFA’s ultimate goal of
a no-kill animal shelter and a dog sanctuary for those animals
that are “not so adoptable, but still deserve to live,”
Gentry said. The only way this can happen, though, is with support
from the community. “We need volunteers, money and foster
people,” Gentry said.
Another way Gentry says countians can help is by spaying or
neutering their pets. “We encourage people to help reduce
the number of unwanted animals by spaying or neutering and not
participating in breeding practices,” she said. “Our
nation is plagued by an overpopulation of dogs and many registered
animals of all breeds are euthanized yearly.”
Owen County Friends of Animals meets at 7 p.m. on the first
Tuesday of each month at Bowling Middle School.
Donations such as dry food, collars, leashes, kennels, etc.
are always welcome and a pick-up time can be arranged by contacting
Hilari Gentry at (502) 514-1539 or Laura Hering at (859) 322-0969.
Monetary donations should be mailed to P.O. Box 234, Owenton,
Ky. 40359.
“We are doing better than several bigger agencies,”
Gentry said, “but we can’t do this alone.”
