SALT LAKE CITY — National Dog Day is August 26th, and shelters are hoping visitors will come in for a visit, whether that's to adopt a new friend or volunteer.
For Rory Jenkins, the moments pets are around the shelter are always sweet. "Animals are my passion and I’ve always wanted to work with animals,” said Jenkins, a kennel technician for South Salt Lake Animal Services.
Jenkins has been with South Salt Sake Animal Services for three years. Each week is a new adventure with pets coming and going. "People are more aware of the needs of shelters and especially the shelter animals themselves,” said Jenkins.
And those needs are growing, just like the rising costs that force people to make a difficult choice. “Seems that there’s less affordable housing that is accepting pets especially large dogs, which is a challenge that we’ve been facing,” said Maddie Cushing, a social media coordinator for Humane Society Utah.
She explained that it's been a problem ever since the pandemic; it's tough for her to see families give up pets they can no longer afford. "Definitely disheartening people having to give up their pets due to financial and housing reasons, but we want to be there for them," said Cushing.
That's why they try to find ways to help: "We always have pay-what-you-can pets available, and adopters can choose what they would like to contribute towards that pet adoption. Hoping that in the future some of the housing organizations and property management companies around the state will be working with folks on pet rent and things like that to help keep families together," said Cushing.
August 26th is National Dog Day, and shelters want people to get out to them for a visit.
"Support your local shelters, too. Even if you can’t adopt, we can always use more volunteers, donations are always really helpful, even if you want to stop by and give the animals a little more love,” said Jenkins.
