Golden Paw Pet Rescuer overwhelmed with influx of dumped animals

JOPLIN, Mo. (KOAM) - The Golden Paw animal shelter in Joplin is having an overwhelming influx of animals being dumped at their facililty.

Mary Ann Schlau, the owner of Golden Paw, reported that the shelter had 18 dogs dumped at their facility in just two days.

"Our episodes this week, our problems this week were horrible," said Mary Ann Schlau, the owner of Golden Paw.

She arrived at the rescue  one morning to find nine dogs in crates sitting in front of the door.

“I woke up and we had nine dogs crammed in crates and cages sitting in front of our door. Okay, this is 5:00 in the morning,” said Schlau.

The following day, the the same thing happened again

“There’s nine more out there stuffed in crates tied to our railings,” said Schlau.

Jessica Sportsman, a groomer at Golden Paw, expressed her concerns about the situation

“We are, all of us are exhausted by this issue and sitting down and realizing how big this issue is,” said Sportsman.

The Joplin Humane Society has a sign on their door that says it is no longer accepting dogs due to being at full capacity.

This overload creates additional challenges for shelters to find safe places for these animals.

“I have to give credit to the director of Joplin Animal Control. But he spent his whole day trying to find a place for seven dogs,” said Schlau.

Schlau says part of the problem is the high cost of pet care, which have left pet owners unable to keep their animals.

“People don’t have the money. The economy is no good. You can’t feed an animal. You can’t house an animal. Landlords throw them out of their buildings even when they’ve been there,” said Schlau.

Schlau urges the community to do their part to prevent more situations like this.

“To prevent the amount of dogs that are left without a home, people should do their part to spay and neuter their animals,” said Schlau.