“We have seen an increase, but I also wonder if people are looking more because they know I’m here and they know there is someone to report it to,” said Kelly Thornton, owner of Small Town Shelter in Sherman and who serves as dog control officer for several municipalities.

“If a dog leaves a property I now get a call immediately,” she said.

Other factors for the increase, Thornton said, is that dogs do have a breeding season that comes two times a year and if dogs are not spayed or neutered they will be more likely to run. The weather is another factor, and on the day Thornton spoke with The Post-Journal, she said she expected to get more calls that day because of the wind storm. She added that because of being an agricultural area, there are more people that let their dogs run loose and that she has a hard time getting people to understand the need to keep dogs on their property.

If someone comes across a loose dog, there are a few steps to take.

Pictured is Wednesday, the pregnant dog found in Panama that was never claimed and transferred to Small Town Shelter. She has since had seven puppies that will be looking for homes in a few weeks.

“If you can, go door-to-door first if you are a neighbor and think you can find the dog’s home,” Thornton said. “After that you call your dog control officer.”

Thornton said the list of dog control officers on the county website is not updated and a town’s website is more likely to have the most up-to-date information.

Thornton said the local dog control officer should also be called when a dog gets away.

“You should call right away,” Thornton said. “All sightings get reported to me. To have an easier time keeping your dog home, you should make sure they are spayed or neutered, microchipped and have updated licenses.”

With updated licensing, Thornton said she is able to bring dogs right home, and can find out where they belong faster to call and return without having to bring them into the shelter. She added that on windy days it is important to check gates and maintain outside areas where dogs could get out. Small Town Shelter also helps in these situations, specifically by using Facebook to try and reunite the dog with their owners first.

Pictured is one of Wednesday’s puppies.

“We don’t want to bring your dog into the shelter anymore than you do,” Thornton said. “Sometimes we have neighbors that take the dog in until the owner is found. But, we don’t always find the owner. After a dog comes in we still do everything we can to help them reunite.”

Thornton said one in three dogs that come into the shelter go unclaimed.

“I think towns need to enforce licensing and work together with their dog control officers,” she said. “Licensing is easy. You just have to get a rabies shot and put the paperwork in the drop box outside the town’s offices.”

Sometimes dog control officers also work together, and that is something Thornton said she would like to see more of. An example she gave was the dog control officer in Panama who found a pregnant dog, which Small Town Shelter took in and who currently resides with one of their board members. She added that communication and training is not stressed in the local area and she wished that dog control officers would be able to do that more.

During the summer, there were two separate times when Small Town Shelter was overrun with dogs. One time they had 15 dogs in the shelter and another time there were 17, with the normal holding capacity for dogs at the shelter being six.

“We have five dogs at the moment that people have moved out and left them behind,” Thornton said. “This is not ok and is considered cruelty. If you know you are moving or being evicted, do what’s right and take care of your dog. This is something I am working on being able to pursue legally because it is devastating.”

Thornton believes towns should be more involved in some cases, including limiting the number of dogs people can have and taking care of repeat offenders, along with if they know there is a breeder in town making sure they are ag and market inspected.

For Thornton, none of it is about profit and is all about keeping dogs safe.

“You are not allowed to keep a dog if you find it,” Thornton said. “You have to post it for five days and must try to find the owner. It is illegal unless you try and find them. Shelters get no profit off of running dogs. We barely survive. This is not about profit, but about keeping dogs safe, though we know mistakes happen.”