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Stray and abused pets get new adoption center in Dover

James Morrison
/
Delaware Public Media
Kittens await adoption at PetSmart Charities location in Dover

 

Delaware’s Office of Animal Welfare opened a new adoption center Tuesday in Dover.  

 

This new adoption location at the PetSmart in Dover is expected to help find homes for around 1,200 stray and abused animals each year.

Delaware doesn’t own or operate its own animal shelters. It pays the Brandywine Valley SPCA for that.

 

The PetSmart location is made possible by a partnership between the SPCA and PetSmart Charities, the company’s non-profit adoption service.

 

The contract with the Brandywine Valley SPCA officially began this January (although the partnership began last September). And it's going great, according to Hetti Brown, director of the Office of Animal Welfare.

“In the first few months of the year we saw a decrease in overall euthanasia of stray, healthy animals. And right now Brandywine Valley SPCA is operating with less than a 10 percent euthanasia rate, meaning no healthy or treatable animal is being euthanized for space. That’s a big improvement," she said.

While the SPCA manages the shelters, the state handles animal control. And the state brings in about 4,000 stray and abused animals a year.

 

The only other state-sponsored adoption center is the Brandywine Valley SPCA in New Castle.  

There isn’t currently a state shelter in Sussex County.

 

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