At a place where guests aren’t looking for a long stay, the Wood County Dog Shelter is now taking
reservations.
The shelter is rolling out a new policy next month that will allow people and rescue organizations to
reserve dogs while making arrangements to bring them home.
Andrew Snyder, chief dog warden, explained his proposed change to commissioners this week. They did not
act but are expected to approve the policy, which may take effect March 1.
"Essentially what we created was a process by which they could submit requests for certain dogs to
indicate to us that they would like that dog. It’s essentially a hold on that animal, so whoever submits
the first hold is the one who is going to get the dog first," Snyder said.
Those interested in adopting a dog can reserve the animal by calling or emailing the shelter. Requests
submitted by email must be followed up with a phone call.
A hold placed on a dog that is currently available is effective for one day, and a hold on a dog not yet
available lasts until one day after it becomes available. The time the shelter is required to hold an
animal before making it available for adoption depends on factors such as the breed and whether the dog
came in wearing a license.
Snyder said the policy will be helpful to individuals and families but was requested by organizations the
shelter works with to place dogs as a way to help rescue groups have time to make arrangements before
adopting or transferring an animal.

"A lot of the times when we’re working with rescue organizations, there’s a lot of coordinating and
collaboration there, and a lot of times they have to schedule vet appointments. And so the current
system could be a little difficult for them as they make these arrangements and then they don’t actually
get the dog in the end because someone beat them by a couple minutes.
"This gives them plenty of time to set up all their appointments they need to get
accomplished."
If someone with priority doesn’t follow through, the reservation moves down the list to the next
interested person or organization.
The policy is fair to both the public and rescue organizations, but it’s important to work with the
latter because the impact they can have on freeing up space in the shelter, Snyder said. Of the 143
adoptions processed last year, about half were arranged by those organizations.
"They help us out a lot with being able to move dogs quickly and bring new dogs in."
The change will also help stem the occasional competition between families when a "highly
desirable" dog becomes available, Snyder said, recalling some who have spent the night in the
shelter’s parking lot in order to be first in line for adoption the following day.
"It quickly became apparent that we didn’t want to have this competition amongst families," he
said.SClB"This really is a win-win situation."
Reach the Wood County Dog Shelter by calling 419-354-9242 or visiting www.co.wood.oh.us/dogshelter.