TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Holidays and long weekends are a great time to spend time with your friends and family.
Sadly, as WTXL Stephanie Rank shows us it's also a time when animal shelters see more surrenders.
It's a problem that many shelters do not celebrate. Owner's surrendering their pets to the animal shelter over long-weekends and holidays.
The Tallahassee Animal Service Center says every year people drop off their pet before the holiday weekend and then weeks later try to adopt another animal.
Depending on the circumstance of surrender, the shelter says it will deny those people from getting another animal.
Erika Leckington, Director of Tallahassee's Animal Service Center, says the influx of animals could be people not willing to pay for boarding.
"In July we typically see some of the puppies were purchased around Christmas time and they're not housebroken or they're not crate trained, or not being perfect model figures in their home and so they bring them in," said Leckington.
Right now there are about 150 animals at the shelter in need of a home.
If you are interested in adoption, the shelter posts information about available pets on its Facebook page.
Of course animals that runaway often end up in local shelters.
One way to make sure you can find your pet is by getting them micro-chipped.
The animal service center hosts a $10 clinic the first Tuesday of each month.
