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As puppy and kitten season rages on, the Chattahoochee Humane Society’s new director has announced that the Clear the Kennels event will continue for a second week.

Last week, the adoption fees were dropped to $10 for cats and $20 for dogs for the Clear the Kennels campaign. The fees include spay/neuter, heartworm test, deworming and up-to-date vaccines. 

With only 16 kennels, the humane society is still over capacity, currently housing almost 45 animals. That’s after 42 animals were adopted since the campaign began. 

“We want every animal to find a home and thrive,” Mingin said. 

The cost to spay/neuter is between $65-105. However, the shelter is far over capacity and Mingin said euthanization is a last resort.

Around 30 cats and kittens have been adopted recently whereas only about six dogs have found homes. Mingin said dogs can be harder to get adopted because of the need for training. 

For the past eight weeks, 11 puppies are currently sharing a kennel. Their mother came to the shelter pregnant, and the puppies have grown up there. Soon, they will be too grown to share space. 

“It’s harder to get dogs adopted because there is a little bit more work with the training … I think that is a big concern when people go to pick up a dog from the humane society. A lot of people don’t know how to train them,” Mingin said. 

To help with this, Mingin has plans to work with a dog trainer who can work with the dogs in the shelter and provide a resource to pet owners. 

The shelter is working on getting a larger play yard for the dogs where a trainer could work with dogs. Mingin said the dogs’ personalities come out when they are in foster homes or in playgroups. 

She also plans to utilize the shelter’s social media to tell the animals’ stories and provide potty training or obedience training tips for the community.

“I would like to be a resource center as well,” Mingin said. 

The shelter is looking to fill a position and could always use more volunteers and foster homes. Mingin said by being responsible pet owners, people can help combat the overpopulation of homeless animals.