Marion County humane at max capacity with animals

FAIRMONT, W.Va (WDTV) - The Marion County Humane Society is at a temporary shelter while a new one is being built.

Due to the limited space, Jonna Spatafore, the humane society’s director, says the current shelter can only fit 10 dog cages and 20 cat cages.

The limited space has caused the humane society to be at maximum capacity.

“We have a waiting list always. Waiting list for dogs, waiting list for cats, and we do pull from our local animal control,” Spatafore said. “They pretty much stay full too.”

Spatafore said even though they get animals from animal control, they’re also at maximum capacity. Oftentimes, this leads to animals getting euthanized because of limited space available.

She said she thinks there’s been a recent influx of animals because of several factors.

“It seems like we’ve been getting a lot of phone calls about people being evicted from their apartments, losing their jobs,” Spatafore said. “We’re hearing that more than what we used to.”

Spatafore emphasizes owners should get their pets spayed and neutered to help with the over population of animals.

She said the most challenging part is turning people down because of limited space.

“We’re having to say ‘I’m sorry I only have so many kennels’, and you hate to say that to people, you really do because you know they’re stuck, the animal is stuck, and you don’t know what’s going to happen to it.”

They’re always taking donations of any kind to help with treats, cleaning products, litter, toys, and more.

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