Kurgan Shelter Has Taken In Over 1,000 Dogs
Kurgan«s municipal shelter for stray animals has been operating for five years
What should you do when you encounter a stray dog in your neighborhood? And especially if you have been seeing the animal for several days and no one is taking it in? For such cases, a municipal animal shelter operates in Kurgan under the city«s Directorate of Parks and Public Gardens. A 45.RU correspondent visited the shelter, looked at the animals, and learned how they end up there and how much time they spend before being adopted or released.
You can tell the shelter is here not only by the sign but also by the barking
The municipal shelter is located at 124a Burova-Petrova Street. Before the «Renault Auto Center» stop heading toward Ryabkovo, there is a driveway to the right. Manager Elena Dostovalova says the shelter has existed for five years now. During that time, more than a thousand dogs and several dozen cats have passed through its doors.
These colored tags are attached to dogs that have undergone medical procedures
«We catch stray animals based on requests, examine them clinically, castrate males, and spay females. Then we remove the stitches and provide post-operative treatment. We also submit information with photos to the website of the city administration»s press service and try to find them homes somehow,« says Elena.
The tag indicates the district where the dog was caught, and the number shows the capture date
When an animal cannot be rehomed, it is released back where it was picked up after three weeks of procedures. To distinguish a dog that has already been processed, a special colored tag with a number is attached to its ear. The color depends on the district where the dog was found. The animal is also microchipped.
Dogs are spayed or castrated, vaccinated, and released back after 21 days if no new owners are found
Dogs are обязательно vaccinated against rabies. Elena Dostovalova says the animals also need treatment. Some veterinary procedures are performed on-site. The manager herself acts as veterinarian, since no such specialist has yet been hired at the shelter.
A dog named Temper was caught on the grounds of the factory of the same name
«Animals often have eye and leg injuries. They are difficult to catch — dogs are very skittish. Those that were abandoned by humans are easy to catch. But those born on the street are wild. People feed them, but they won»t let anyone get close at all,« Elena says.
Not all dogs at the shelter are aggressive; some befriend staff and get used to people during their stay
The manager clarifies that there are more animals born homeless than abandoned pets. Such dogs form packs, are more aggressive, and pose a danger to the public. Catching them is not easy; often, upon hearing the sound of a car, stray dogs scatter.
A dog named Kun is sad and would be happy to live with new owners
«We hunted one dog for probably two months, but we did catch it, spayed it, released it back, and now at least it won»t produce offspring,« the interviewee says.
A dog named Druzhok likes to look down on all shelter visitors
The manager notes that overall, over the years the shelter has been operating, there are fewer stray dogs. But more than 200 dogs a year still have to be brought in. Most often, capture teams go to the private sector, the Vostochny and Severny districts of the city.
Even Dalmatians are thrown out onto the streets
«There»s a pack on Chapayev Street. They are almost all sterilized. People complain, but we have caught almost all of them. Three males remain. And the requests keep coming and coming — that it«s a pack, that there are many of them. A local woman recently told us she is building an enclosure and will take them all in because she loves dogs and feels sorry for them. People complain: »Take them somewhere,« and I say: »Where can we take them? We only keep them for 21 days, we can«t keep them all here indefinitely,»« Elena explains.
Some dogs have such a sad look in their eyes
Each dog here gets a card listing the capture date, a number, and a name. Most often, animals are named after the streets where they were picked up.
A Rottweiler named Rock has not yet found new owners
«For example, locals call a dog something, so that»s what we call it. Most often, if it was on Leningradskaya, we use the letter «L»; if it was caught somewhere else, we name it accordingly. If caught at an enterprise, we name it after the enterprise. Mostly by location, so it«s easier later. Right now we have a dog named »Temper« because it was caught at the factory of the same name, and a dog named Kulachka was caught in Kulatskoye,» Dostovalova says.
A dog named Bublik has eaten his fill and sleeps despite the barking around him
Not all dogs are sterilized immediately; some purebreds are kept for a while in case someone wants to adopt them or breed them.
Sometimes large dogs end up on the street too, such as a dog named Lev
«We had a Rottweiler that wasn»t sterilized for a long time. We kept him, thinking maybe someone would take him or the owners would come for him. A young couple came once. They looked at him and liked him. I said: «Come back again.» They said: «As soon as we sort out our housing situation, we»ll come.« Then they came back with a leash to take the dog, but he is, well, aggressive. I asked: »Where are you going to keep him?« They said: »In an apartment.« I understand if they had a private house, and I said: »No, guys, you«ll wake up one night and he»ll bite someone«s head off. You don»t know the dog, you need to be safe. And you want to take him straight to a one-room apartment. How do you picture that?« We happened to have puppies then: »Go take a look at a puppy instead.« And they took a puppy,» the manager says about how not all dogs can be taken into apartments and homes.
A beautiful husky has been left without owners
Over the past six months, 14 dogs have been rehomed. The shelter has special visiting days: Tuesday and Thursday after lunch. At that time, staff are always on site. They will show and tell you about the animals so you can take one home if you wish. Sometimes dogs are returned because people overestimated their abilities and cannot handle the animal. You can also view the cards of the residents on the official shelter website.
This dog was released several times, but stubbornly refused to leave and returned to the shelter
«In general, all our workers here already have dogs. Some have more than one. We only take adult dogs here; we have no right to keep puppies. But sometimes puppies are dumped on us. Our staff take them in. Sometimes we manage to rehome animals through volunteers,» Elena says.
Some dogs do not bark at visitors but want to play with them
There are 43 spaces for dogs and 4 spaces for cats. But cats end up at the shelter much less often, as there are fewer requests for them. And they do not pose the same danger as dogs.
«Sometimes we keep a few more, two dogs in some spots. Sometimes nearly 50 dogs go out at once. Right now we have 38. And at the moment six more cats are here, while there is still room to put them in dog cages. Because in winter, dogs stay in a warm box after surgery. But now cats have been given shelter there,» the manager adds about the whiskered animals.
Earlier we told the story of the cat Luntik, who was taken from the shelter to a Kurgan cat cafe, where he now lives and looks for a new home.
To leave a request for catching a stray dog or cat, you need to call the city number 24-17-25. They will clarify all necessary information there. Then shelter staff will arrive on site. If there are no new requests, old ones are reviewed, since not all animals are caught on the first try.
«Sometimes people say there were many dogs, and then someone poisoned them. The dogs got sick and eventually died. I understand people too. Say, if dogs have multiplied and you can»t walk past. Of course, measures must be taken. I believe there should be no stray dogs at all. They should be pets. A dog that runs loose is already a dangerous dog, it«s already a beast. There should be no stray dogs. And the fact that we release them is, of course, also not good. Say, if we had an agreement with another shelter, we would sterilize them and give them to the shelter. And they would be kept there. That would be right. But still, if over the years the shelter has sterilized and castrated more than a thousand dogs, that is already a result and a benefit,» Dostovalova concludes.
