Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

In the past two months, more than two dozen animals have been left in the yard at the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society animal shelter.
Sure, the focus of the CPHS is to care for abandoned or stray animals. But without crucial information about those animals, having these animals adopted is a nearly impossible task.
Is the animal sick? Does it get along with children? Is the animal fixed?
These are all questions asked by potential adopters. But they’re questions without answers for these abandoned animals.
“It’s extremely hard for us to offer a pet for adoption when we don’t know anything about them,” said Ingrid Bilotto, CPHS director of operation. “It’s important to know the character of an animal and any special needs before they are adopted. When people drop off animals, they neglect to leave this important information for us.
“It’s really essential.”
Bilotto believes a good number of the animals that are dropped off aren’t left by owners abandoning them. She believes a lot of people find animals, don’t know what to do with them, and decide to leave them unidentified in the shelter yard.
“If someone finds a dog and decides to drop it off,” said Bilotto, “and we’re not encouraging dropping off animals when the shelter isn’t open, we’d at least like to know the proximity of where the animal was found. That way if someone is looking for their lost pet, they have a place to turn.”
Although CPHS staff realize animals will unfortunately be left at the shelter without the pertinent information, executive director Dave Hopkins said fines and possible jail time can result.
“Violators can be cited for abandonment or, if the incident occurs in the winter months, cruelty to animal charges could be warranted.”
The Central Pennsylvania Humane Society is located on Old 220 North in the Greenwood/Bellemeade section of Altoona. It is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. and on Friday from 12:30 to 7 p.m.

By Rick