Franklin County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center
Meet potential pets at bimonthly ‘Mingle With Our Mutts’
A trip to the local dog shelter probably doesn’t come to mind when considering a fun adventure for your family.
Not being in the market for a dog, it didn’t come to my mind either until my daughter, Rosie, insisted that we visit a lonely dog named Acura at the Franklin County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center in Columbus. Rosie learned about Acura, a young pit bull, while visiting the shelter with her Girl Scout troop. There, she decorated and wrote positive messages on star-shaped cutouts that were taped on the window of Acura’s kennel. One out of four dogs in the shelter, she learned, are pit bulls.
“Can’t we just visit her?” Rosie asked.
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I told Rosie that the following Sunday the shelter was holding its popular adoption event called “Mingle With Our Mutts” – held from noon-2 p.m. on the first and third Sundays of each month. The event, I said, could provide a good opportunity to see Acura and meet and photograph other dogs that were begging for good homes.
The event has been going strong since 2002, drawing more than 400 people a month.
If you’re in the market for family pet, it provides a casual atmosphere to interact with adoptable dogs and puppies from the Franklin County shelter and others from more than 30 different area rescue groups – some of which also have cats.
We met German shepherds, a Great Pyrenees, a dachshund and a really cute hound with a severe underbite. Our last stop was to see Acura. Her eyes lit up and she wagged her tail at the site of Rosie. I hope that tail is still wagging the same way today.
The Franklin County shelter is the largest county shelter in Ohio. Last year it took in nearly 12,000 dogs and puppies including strays and unwanted litters of puppies. On average the shelter has 60-100 dogs and puppies available for adoption daily.
The Franklin County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center is located at 4340 Tamarack Blvd., Columbus. For more information, visit www.franklincountydogs.com.
