At the Humane Society of Henderson County, Society Shannon Todd takes me to meet a recent addition to their burgeoning group of missing dogs.
Sadie is waiting outside for her kennel to cleaned. She's a energetic 3-month old puppy — maybe a German shepherd mix — with light blond fur, and orangish ears.
“This is Sadie so she just came in, I believe it was yesterday," said Todd. "Could have been Monday though, my days kind of get mixed up around here. But somebody found her running loose down the highway.”
Todd said spring and early summer is when the most pets run away, and end up in the local animal control shelter. The Henderson Humane Society is full, and unable to accept any more dogs at this time.
Sadie is one of 51 lost dogs here.
“So it definitely is a huge issue," Todd said. "We do see a lot of strays and it's something that we get hopefully educate people and keep them at home and not with us.”
She urges owners to get their pets microchipped. "Sadie" isn't even this puppy's real name. With no collar or microchip they have no way of knowing her name, or how to reach the owners, which hopefully are looking for her.
"Make sure that they have on the proper fitting harnesses, collars, leashes," Todd added. "There is a leash law. So don't let them loose and run around, because that's often what happens as well. They think they've got a good control on them, and then boom, they're gone. They take off."
Any pets that come in have their photos posted on social media. Todd says this is a great way to restore lost pets to their owners, such as a cat they had for more than a year who had unique markings and faded blue collar.
“And sure enough, couple hours later, one of our old employees here was like 'that is my cat.' And she came up and sure enough, that was her cat that had been missing for a year-and-a-half, and it was just awesome to see them reunite. And she cried, I cried. It was awesome though. So that's what we really hoped for when we share these things on our Facebook page. “
With the July 4 holiday approaching, Todd suggests pet owners prepare by having a space for anxious dogs to go during fireworks, and maybe necessary calming medication.
She says they do need more foster homes because their facility is at capacity for dogs.