The city of Strafford is facing a tough decision.  It needs to find homes for its increasing number of stray dogs, or start putting some of the animals to sleep.

Last month the Strafford Board of Alderman decided that after a dog has been in the Strafford pound for more than thirty days, it can be taken to Marshfield to be put down by lethal injection.

But Animal Control Officer Chandra Lowery is doing everything she can to prevent that from happening. "To me a pound dog is the best dog you can have, they tend to have a good personality," said Lowery.

Lowery said 95-percent of the time this pound is over capacity. It can hold just six, but currently it has twelve.  And with more dogs coming in weekly she's in a constant battle to find them all homes. "Since the economy's dropped we've seen a greater number of stray animals and i don't see that getting better anytime soon," said Lowery.

Animal control picked this black lab up just a  few hours ago.  Just before they found her, she was standing in the middle of a street and a school bus had to stop to avoid hitting her. "I would venture to guess that fifty percent of our dogs come from being dumped off," said Lowery.

Right now the kennel is relying on volunteers like Lisa Campbell to help these dogs get human interaction, and some love. "A lot of people in our community don't realize that these dogs are here," said Campbell.

"Adoptions are still happening but they're slow," said Lowery.

Although the pound is already over capacity, Lowery said putting the dogs to sleep is the last option. One she's hoping she never as to use.
"As far as deciding whether a dog is going to be euthanized due to space, I don't want to make that decision," said Lowery.

In order to give these dogs a better chance to be adopted, the city will start holding a dog adoption day once a month. The first one will be this Saturday at the dollar station in Strafford from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.  All of the dogs that are available for adoption will be there, and if people find one they want, they can adopt them that day and take them home. The adoption fee is $65.

Lowery said the police chief is responsible for making the decision to euthanize a dog because of lack of space.      If that happens, the dog is taken to Marshfield for a lethal injection at a veterinary clinic.