Stray Animals a Growing City Problem

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The new director of the Memphis Animal Shelter, Matthew Pepper, says the numbers of strays on city streets are taxing his organization. He says it's not only a public safety issue, but a concern for the animals as well.

Pepper says calls for any kind of service to the shelter are up by 1,500 over this time last year, with many of those calls about loose and stray dogs.

Animal Control Officer David Johnson answers lots of dog calls. Thursday morning his job took him to the Nutbush area of Memphis to pick up an abandoned dog.

"The dog was left by the previous owner and won't leave," said Johnson.

Pet abandonment is part of what Pepper says has lead to an enormous problem in the city. The shelter director says there are too many strays on the streets, and the places they're eventually found and picked up is not exclusive to any one area.

"As much as we would like to, there's no way we can be everywhere in the city," said Pepper. "This is an enormous tax on our organization and on this community."

Once the animals are impounded, he says the owners rarely come to reclaim them. Tough times are part of what is driving owners to abandon or surrender their pets.

"They just let them out of the door. That's the end of it [for them], but not for the community," said Pepper. "Just yesterday we had some people turn in animals who couldn't care for them."

If left with a choice, Pepper wants more owners to choose the responsible solution of dropping their pets off at the shelter, and not just turning them loose.

Pepper says the stray problem is a focus, and he's taking opportunities to speak to various community organizations and groups. He also says they've expanded their hours to 7 days a week, 24 hours a day to keep up with the calls they receive.