If you look inside almost every home in the community, you can see a pet running around or playing. These range from large dogs to tiny hamsters and lizards.  Many families choose to rescue their pets from shelters.

In February the world tuned into the Olympics in Sochi, and attention turned to the stray dogs that roamed freely throughout the city. Athletes, tourists, and visitors aimed to help solve this problem by placing the animals in shelters.

An animal shelter provides sanction for abandoned, lost, neglected or homeless animals that are brought in by community members. Unlike Sochi, the Lehigh Valley does not have a significant problem with stray dogs.  Nonetheless, there are a few places that provide shelter for these animals; the Humane Society, Peaceable Kingdom, and The Center for Animal Health and Welfare are shelters here in our local community.

Wendy Benedict, director of The Center for Animal Health and Welfare, said her shelter normally takes in about 1200 animals in one year.

“We rescue animals by taking in strays or even from other shelters when animals are out of time. We help animals get adopted by getting their photo (or them) out into the public eye,” Benedict said. “Animals in our care get medical care, food, exercise, training, and our screening process for adoption hopefully gets them in the best home suited for a great life.”

The adoption process usually includes the person seeing a dog they are interested in. If a person wants to adopt a dog and they already own a dog, the dogs must meet with dog trainer present to see if they will get along.  If it is a pit bull or dog with special needs, they do home visits.

If person wants to adopt a cat, they can spend time with it in the shelter’s free roaming room and then fill out an application.

The questions on the application determine if the applicant would make a good pet owner, in addition to gathering information that the shelter needs.  All family members that will live with the pet must meet and be in agreement.

Adopting from an animal shelter gives the opportunity to give back to the community.

“I have adopted from a shelter, and I will definitely do it again” freshman Shanaya Desai said.

Even though shelters improve an animal’s way of life, there’s nothing like having a home of their own.

“Although we think our shelter is pretty awesome and we make our animals feel like they are, with beds, blankets, toys, treats, medical care and love, a home is better. A shelter can be a stressful place to live, especially if you were used to a calm home,” Benedict said, “Our long-term residents often write back that they love car rides, sleeping in bed with their new family and going on vacations, some of the things they don’t get on a daily basis at the shelter–of course, they have a family!”

Benedict said that there are three cats to every dog at the shelter and they also have other small companion animals such as hamsters, gerbils, birds, rabbits and the not-so-frequent reptile.