Over the last few years, Second Chance has consistently been at full capacity with a waiting list of families seeking to surrender a dog or cat. This is not unique to us, as most shelters around the country are seeing the same trends. Adoption rates are decreasing while intakes are steady or growing. We appreciate the confidence our community has in us, but we want to help more pets and people. We need to move more cats and dogs from the shelter to homes.

In a rural community such as ours, people love their pickup trucks and their dogs. While we know we won’t convince the truly committed dog-in-pickup defenders, we encourage everyone to consider the following:

Dogs who ride in the backs of pickup trucks can look like they’re having fun, noses testing the wind, and ears flopping freely. They are going places with their parents. However, an estimated 100,000 dogs die every year because of falling or jumping off of pickup trucks. If a driver hits a bump, slams on the brakes, or swerves to avoid an obstacle a dog can easily be thrown from the truck bed.