Fleas, skin problems common in dogs that are abandoned

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By Matt Sanctis, Staff Writer Updated 11:43 AM Wednesday, December 15, 2010

After responding to calls of abandoned dogs nearly every day for three years, Charles Crislip said he believes most people do not want to abandon their pets.

But as many families struggle to pay their bills, some families soon find they can’t afford to feed their pets. In other cases, he has found several animals that have been abandoned together after they became too much for their owners to handle.

“I believe the spaying and neutering is a huge part of abandonment too because people do get overwhelmed,” Crislip said.

While most of the pets he finds abandoned are fairly healthy, they do face several health issues. Along with the risk of injury, he noted many of the dogs develop medical problems. Often, the dogs have not received the proper shots before they were abandoned, he said.

“I would say 90 percent of the dogs we pick up as strays have fleas,” Crislip said.

Dog wardens in the county carry donated flea medication in their trucks, but the flea issue has been worse as warmer winters failed to kill as many of the pests.

“A lot of the strays have flea problems which can lead to skin loss,” Crislip said.

In Clark County, the Humane Society deals with most abandoned pets, because unlike most counties, the agency serves as both the local shelter and as the dog warden. This means that unlike many shelters, staff in Clark County must accept any dog that is found stray or abandoned, regardless of health or whether it can reasonably be adopted.

Jimmy Straley executive director of the agency, said some families fail to understand the responsibility they have when they decide to get a pet. Unfortunately, the dogs eventually become disposable when their owners decide the responsibility was too much.

“A dog is not a magazine at a grocery store,” Straley said. “It’s not an impulse buy. It’s something you have to think about and be ready for.”