LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Little Rock Animal Village is preparing for more animals to return after the Christmas season, at a time when they say they are already full.
Tracy Roark, the manager of Little Rock Animal Services, said they are already preparing for some holiday pet buyers to return their pets.
“We generally see 7%, that’s usually what our rate of return is.” Roark said. “We are always ready to take in more animals.”
Roark said they take in animals every day and are full. So far, they have about 140 dogs, but they continue to take more if needed, which includes returns.
He said there are many reasons why pet owners return their dogs.
“It’s a big adjustment to have a new dog in your home,” Roark said. “It’s back to COVID and inflation and it’s much more expensive to care for an animal.”
Roark said those who are returned are often easily adopted later, but it does lead to some kennels being neglected.
“What he does is tamper the next (dog) to come out (adopted) because that one (the dog that came back) is adopted, so the next (dog) is not adopted that could be adopted if the other dog is not back,” Roark said.
Roark said they want the dogs returned if their owners can’t care for them, because they want to help every dog find their forever home.
“We want our pets to be happy, and we also want the adopter to be happy,” Roark said.
However, Roark says this has been a challenging year due to the influx of dogs and lack of adoptions.
“We have an abundance of animals coming in that are 20% more than we were 2 years ago.” Roark said. “We have close to 4,000 that have been brought in throughout this year.”
Roark says they hope more people will come forward to adopt the dogs they have available.
If you want to adopt, you can visit online at FriendsoftheAnimalVillage.org.
