The City of Syracuse is struggling to address a serious stray dog problem. Officials say the pandemic and irresponsible breeders are largely to blame for too many dogs and not enough people to adopt them.
Sergeant Todd Cramer supervises the dog control and animal cruelty unit in the Syracuse Police Department. He says they take four to five calls per day for reports or stray dogs.
“A lot of times we're able to reunite the dogs back at home, they'll have a chip. They will have tags on them and we're able to bring them home," Cramer said. "But the instances of where we have no idea where the dog belongs, that creates an issue. What am I going to do with this animal? I have gone so far as to like we'll grab a dog in the morning and I pray to God that by the end of the day I'll have an opening.”
The dogs without homes are held and evaluated at the city’s crowded contracted shelter prior to being made available at the city's newSecond Chance Canine Adoption Shelterin Jamesville. Cramer says they also get reports of abused dogs, so he and his cruelty investigators tackle those cases before the calls for strays.
“You've probably seen of the severely emaciated dogs, dogs that are stabbed," Cramer said. "Those are the ones that I have to prioritize, unfortunately over something else.”
Meanwhile, Cramer says he has a waiting list of 50 people who say they’ve taken in a stray dog but don't want to keep them. Board President of the Second Chance Adoption Shelter Kimberly Smith-Ford says backyard breeders are a major contributor to the dog overpopulation problem.
“People are just breeding dogs, giving them away to anyone," Smith-Ford said. "Nine out of ten of those dogs they give away at some point in their life will end up back in the shelter system. So, the constant breeding is impacting this this crisis because the community does not need any more dogs right now.”
She says some of these breeders are also see it as a way to make money.
"They don't care about the dogs well-being. They don't care if the dogs are vetted," Smith-Ford said. "Puppies are taken away from their mothers too early. They're just doing it for the money and then shelters and rescues, we see the consequences of that."
SPD officials say they handle about 600 animals a year, including stray dogs and cruelty cases involving a variety of pets.
You can learn more about the adoption process and see available dogs at the Second Chance website.
