Look into a dog’s eyes and you’ll see love, adoration, and unconditional loyalty. These furry friends want only one thing in return: to be loved back. But for over half of dogs entering shelters, love is never received; in fact, 56% of dogs and puppies entering shelters in the U.S. are killed. With 6-8 million dogs and cats entering shelters every year and only half adopted, it is clear there is a problem that needs to be addressed.
Lakeshore PAWS was founded in response to the increasing number of animals without homes. Founder Jeanne Sommer recalls a vacation in Belize, where she ended up spending her time feeding stray dogs on the beach. One little white dog in particular, Sparky, caught her attention and Jeanne ended up bringing him to the no-kill humane society, where he was treated and then adopted by a vet.
Back in the states, Sommer began seeing the need here, with people losing their homes and having to give up their pets, leading to severe overcrowding of the shelters. With the plan of taking in stray pets, giving them care and fostering them until they can be adopted, Lakeshore PAWS was born, in April of 2011.
“It exploded overnight,” recalled Jeanne, as the organization isn’t even a year old and has already taken in 186 dogs, and adopted out 160 dogs and 82 cats. Lakeshore PAWS has also performed hundreds of TNR procedures on feral cats: trap, neuter, release. “Cats can breed at 4 months of age,” shared Stacy Price, who does marketing and fundraising for the group. “TNR helps the overpopulation from feral cats who can’t be housed.”
Lakeshore PAWS is modeled after Chicago’s largest no-kill humane organization, PAWS Chicago. The group pulls dogs from shelters that will be euthanized, or ones that are difficult cases, rehabilitates the animals to make sure they are ready for a new home, and then they adopt the dogs out. “We’re a support organization for shelters, we don’t want to compete,” Jeanne stated. Lakeshore works with many shelters in the region, including Porter County, Northwest Indiana Humane Society, Gary Death Row Dogs, Starke, LaPorte, and Newton County.
Visits are made to the shelters up to three times a week. Once the dogs are pulled, they are given a behavioral assessment by Francisco Medellin, Director of Operations at Lakeshore PAWS. The dogs are then brought to the vet and placed in foster homes where they await their “furever” home. Cats are generally relinquished by their owners and held for 7 days to make sure they have no medical problems, before they can be adopted.
“We need more fosters!” stressed Jeanne, when asked how the community can help. Along with monetary donations, Lakeshore PAWS needs more people to house the dogs until they can be adopted. Currently, the group has roughly 8-10 active fosters, with the ideal number being 20-25. The difference is made up with help from The Pet Resort in Valpo, and Reeves Royal Acres Dog Camp. “It’s not ideal for the dogs to be housed there but it’s 100 times better than the shelter.”
“The biggest point we stress is it doesn’t matter where the dogs come from,” Stacy shared. Many dogs are in shelters due to financial reasons or divorces. Some even wind up in a shelter when a student goes to college and their parents don’t want the responsibility of caring for the canine. Shelter dogs often receive a bad reputation and Lakeshore PAWS works to dispute the view that the dogs are inferior to others.
The PAWS crew works hard to find out as much information about each dog as they can, from what mix they are to whether they get along with other dogs, cats and kids. They will also keep an eye out for a certain breed if you desire a particular one. And if hard times fall upon you, Lakeshore PAWS has your back. “Catastrophic events happen and if you can’t keep the dog [after adoption], we’ll gladly take responsibility and find homes for them,” stated Stacy, “We love what we do.”