Dogs’ lives are at stake at Trenton Animal Shelter

Trenton’s Animal Shelter. (Rich Hundley III/Trentonian file photo)

The lives of seven dogs housed at the Trenton Animal Shelter hang in the balance as city officials plan their deaths unless someone adopts them by May 6.

Lt. Alexis Durlacher, head of the city’s Animal Control Bureau, described the bleak situation at the Escher St. facility as officials plan to cull dogs to create space, an act that puts an end to the ‘no kill’ designation of the shelter.

“We currently have 57 dogs in the shelter. There is no room for not one more dog, there is just no place to put them,” Durlacher said.

Durlacher said all 57 dogs have been assessed as adoptable, although Trenton Animal Shelter has not made any significant moves regarding adoption initiatives in the past two years. Terry Peifer, an animal rights activist known for his tough talk about operations at Trenton Animal Shelter, even weighed in on the city’s decision to time-stamp dogs for death.

“The city has created this situation with mismanagement and without real efforts to create a successful adoption model. People did nothing while the overpopulation problem worsened. Now dogs are dying because of what people didn’t do,” Peifer said.

“Just because Mayor (Reed) Gusciora may not like the messenger, he should not ignore the message. Now is the time for people to be honest about the process, the policies and the end game. Yes, there are a lot of hard feelings about a lot of issues, but dogs shouldn’t have to pay with their lives.”

Trenton Animal Shelter faced such overcrowded conditions that city officials were forced to find room and board for about 60 dogs at a kennel in Yardley, Pennsylvania. A roughly 18-month stay cost the city nearly $1.1 million.

City officials did not respond to a request for comment.