Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter sees influx of dogs amid fireworks

ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — Several dogs were brought into the Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter after fireworks on July 4 and the day after.

“We’ve had them coming in all morning,” shelter director Shannon Posada said on Friday. “We’ve had several, several phone calls of people who have dogs and with no owners, which we anticipate have ran from the fireworks, we have owners calling and missing their animal. [We’re] doing our best to go through all of our messages and go through our pictures being sent to us.”

Posada said the shelter anticipates having an influx of dogs running at large throughout the weekend.

“My staff here is working very hard,” Posada said. “They worked overtime last night to get the animals that [were] brought in back to their owners as soon as possible.”

When animals get scared, their first thought is to get away from what scared them, resulting in them taking off running, Posada said.

“They just take off running, and they could go for a mile or two miles,” Posada said. “We had them actually call from several miles away. Now, did someone pick them up and take them there? We don’t know. Did they run that far? We don’t know, because they have been located a couple of miles from where their residence has been.”

For those who have found a stray animal, Posada said it’s important to keep the animal safe until you can contact a shelter.

“But if you find [a] dog, please keep it safe until you can contact us here at the shelter,” Posada said. “If you’re missing a dog, please contact us and we’re going to ask you to send a picture of your dog to our Facebook messenger. That way, when the dog comes in, we can match it up with a photo and get back in touch with you.”

Posada said the shelter played music loudly over the speakers inside to try and keep the dogs already there from hearing the full brunt of the fireworks.

The Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter expected the influx of dogs after the fireworks. To counter it, the shelter held a “Clear the Shelter” event before the 4th of July. Posada said it was a great success.

“We had a phenomenal, phenomenal adoption event. And thanks for everyone who advertised for us, who sponsored our events. We had a tremendous adoption event, and it helped us so much to be able to take those animals that came in due to being frightened and run from the fireworks. We had plenty of space to put those in.”

People missing an animal are advised to contact their local shelter.

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