ONTARIO - A litter of six puppies have made their temporary home at the Humane Society of Richland County.
They will be up for adoption on Dec. 23, just in time for Christmas.
Humane agent Missy Houghton said the owner surrendered the lab/shepherd mix puppies because he could not care for them. And they are a happy, healthy group of busy four-legged friends.
"They are a stress-reliever," said Houghton, who posted photographs of the puppies on her Facebook page.
The puppies, five males and a female, are between three and four months old, Houghton said. People cannot interact with them yet because they just had their shots and are being kept separate from the other dogs.
While cats and kittens, and pups, dogs and other animals are wonderful additions to any family, Houghton said pets are looking for forever homes. If people are considering getting a pet for Christmas, it's meant to be a long-term commitment.
She said people can buy a gift certificate for another person, allowing them to come in and pick out a pet, but the office doesn't want someone to buy a dog for someone else as a gift.
"Usually families are getting a pet for themselves and we don't have a problem with that," she said.
Richland County Dog Shelter Warden Dave Jordan said the dog shelter currently has 31 large and medium breed dogs and eight small breeds at the North Home Road facility.
"The numbers are down. Quite often we have 70 dogs," Jordan said. "We've had a lot of adoptions lately and Christmas might have something to do with that."
He said the actual person adopting the dog from the dog shelter has to fill out the paperwork.
"We would not encourage adopting a dog for someone else unless it's a person in your house," he said. "We want it to be a successful adoption, and have people make sure all the animals in their house get along."
When adopting a dog, Jordan said take your time, have patience and be sure you can afford to have the dog spayed or neutered as unexpected incidents occur requiring veterinarian care.
"It takes time, patience and responsibility," Jordan said.
"We want to make sure the next home for our dogs is their permanent home," he added.
Jordan said he also wanted to stress to current or potential pet owners that short-haired dogs should not be out in the weather this time of year.
The humane society currently offers a foster for the holidays program, which continues through the first week of January, allowing a person to take an animal home on a trial basis.
"If they decide they want to adopt the pet, they receive a reduced cost on the adoption price," she said.
The humane society, 3025 Park Avenue West, is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. and Thursdays from noon to 7 p.m.
For hours of operation for the Richland County Dog Shelter, call 419-7745892.