Thousands of out of state strays find homes on Long Island every year

After Karen Maresco’s dog of 14 years, Finley, died this past December, she visited North Shore Animal League America in Port Washington on Christmas Eve in hopes of finding another pet to keep her company.

That’s when she met Duncan, a 1-year-old Lab-mix from Arkansas.

“Finley [also adopted from North Shore] wouldn’t want another little puppy to spend Christmas in a shelter,” said Maresco, 47, of Huntington Station.

As the two played catch, they quickly built a rapport. Duncan seemed relaxed when she picked him up. Like many shelter dogs born out of state, not much was known about his past. But he has since transitioned smoothly into his new life with Maresco.

“We had more family over, a larger gathering ... and he was great with everyone,” Maresco said. “When we first got him ... he knew how to sit and everything. His potty training was really great.”

Duncan is one of the thousands of dogs rescued from shelters in southern states and other regions that then find their people and a loving home on Long Island.

A 2024 analysis conducted by Atlanta-based Shelter Animals Count, a nonprofit national database on animal sheltering, found that there are about 13,527 animal-sheltering organizations in America, taking in more than 5 million cats and dogs each year. Despite their efforts, countless stray animals, especially those from southern states where shelter operators can face severe overcrowding and limited resources, aren’t as lucky as Duncan.

A strong pipeline has developed between out-of-state shelters and animal rescue operations on Long Island, resulting in numerous dogs taking refuge in shelters across the region.

WHY THEY COME HERE

Access to large donor networks, established volunteer programs, robust veterinary care and improved spay/neuter practices enables shelters on Long Island to accommodate these animals, according to shelter officials and animal advocates.

Higher adoption rates also contribute to greater availability of space here. Shelter Animals Count found that in 2024, 66% of total dog intakes in the Mid-Atlantic region, which includes New York and the surrounding states, were adopted, compared to 61% in the South-Atlantic region, which includes states from Maryland to Florida, and 52% in the West and East South Central regions, which stretches from West Virginia to Texas.

At North Shore Animal League America, which says it is the biggest no-kill animal rescue in the United States and has an approximately $50 million annual budget, about 80% of its 50,000 annual rescues come from out-of-state. The remaining animals at North Shore are taken in from local shelters that have limited space and medical resources, as well as from private homes, according to the organization.

The rescue team at North Shore works with more than 2,000 partner shelters in states such as Texas, New Mexico, Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Florida and Louisiana, the organization said in a written statement. Some of these relationships were forged in the wake of natural disasters.

FLOODS AND WILDFIRES

Mike Spiotta, shelter director at North Shore, said he immediately called shelters in Texas following the deadly flooding in early July.

“Even with what just happened in Texas, [we were] immediately getting on the phone with our partners down there and saying, ‘We don’t know if there’s anything we can do, but if there is, please let us know, and we will try to provide them with anything we can,’ ” he said.

Working with Rescue the Animals SPCA in Abilene, Texas, 36 dogs and puppies from shelters throughout the area were brought to North Shore, allowing the local facilities there to better assist displaced animals.

This past March and July, North Shore also conducted two rescues of more than 80 dogs and puppies from shelters in Los Angeles to create space for pets displaced during the January wildfires, Ilene Schreibman, North Shore’s communications manager, wrote in an email. In partnership with Race for Life Rescue, a nonprofit based in Nashville that has facilitated more than 130 air transportations for animals at risk of being killed, the dogs were brought to Allentown, Pennsylvania, where North Shore’s rescue team met them and then drove them to Port Washington by way of their Mobile Adoption Units.

Working with partner shelters nationwide, Race for Life Rescue helps facilitate 70 rescue trips each year, and has relocated more than 8,000 cats and dogs since starting those efforts in 2023. The 20-passenger aircraft “is dedicated solely for the purpose of relocating animals that are in these overcrowded conditions from being euthanized ... to areas of the country where they could be adopted,” said Jim DeFrancesco, founder of the organization.

Save a Pet USA, a smaller no-kill nonprofit animal shelter in Port Jefferson Station, uses a similar rescue strategy, with 40% of its rescues coming from out of state, according to the organization. High-kill shelters — like those in Macon-Bibb and Barrow counties in Georgia — send images and information of the dogs to nonprofit shelters on Long Island that typically accept the maximum number they can support. The dogs are then transported to the Long Island facilities by organizations like Grateful Doggies, which transports dogs along the East Coast, in a matter of days.

“We have to work fast because otherwise these dogs get euthanized,” said Dori Scofield, president of Save-A-Pet USA. “We don’t mess around.”

HEALTH CHECKS AND TOYS

Once relocated, the animals receive behavioral and medical evaluations before being put up for adoption.

Depending on its needs, an animal at North Shore can receive as much as round-the-clock monitoring, a specialized diet and comprehensive medical treatment.

At Kent Animal Shelter in Calverton, a private nonprofit shelter with a capacity for 27 dogs, the animals undergo a 48-hour isolation from other dogs and visitors, during which they are tested for heartworm and tick-borne diseases, and receive any necessary vaccinations and sterilization procedures.

“The kennel attendants love the dogs that they take care of,” said Kimberly Reilly, the shelter’s assistant executive director and manager of its spay/neuter clinic. “They all get toys and treats. So we really do our best to make them happy for as long as we have them.”

The protocol is similar at Save-A-Pet USA, Scofield said. “We do everything medically possible for these animals. He’s microchipped, neutered, everything.”

That work often results in happy outcomes for Long Island families.

Oakley, an 8-month-old pit bull-terrier mix, was adopted fromSave-A-Pet USA by the Kirschenheuter family, of Port Jefferson Station, on June 4.

Just four months earlier, on Feb. 13, Oakley and her four siblings were rescued from Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Animal Services in Georgia, where she was at risk of euthanasia.

The Kirschenheuters saw Oakley on Save-A-Pet USA’s social media and decided to visit the shelter. They quickly fell in love with her.

“We weren’t looking for another dog, but she has something about her that we really liked,” said Jalynn Kirschenheuter, 18. “I guess how cute she looked.”

Oakley was in perfect health, but was the shyest of her litter, hiding underneath things and avoiding others.

Since settling in her new home — where she enjoys Rachael Ray Nutrish pet food and sleeps snuggled under the sheets of a big bed — Oakley has come out of her shell.

“She really is thriving,” Kirschenheuter said. “I like to send videos to Save-A-Pet and show them her progress, and they ... can’t believe that’s the same dog. She still gets scared at times, but she is definitely getting better with each day.”

MORE LITTERS ELSEWHERE

The differences in the number of homeless animals between states is largely driven by inconsistent spay and neuter practices, shelter officials here said.

“Nothing leaves my shelter unless it’s spayed or neutered and up to date [on vaccinations],” Scofield said. “If you’re counting on somebody to adopt a dog and then go get it spayed or neutered, I don’t care if they’re wonderful. They wait too long. They feel bad. Their husband doesn’t want them to lose his masculinity.”

In New York, as of 2014, adopters must submit a written agreement and deposit to ensure their pet is spayed/neutered within 30 days of the adoption or 30 days after reaching six months of age.

Laws, however, may be less stringent in other states.

RISE IN SHELTER ANIMALS

The nation’s current economic climate also contributes to the overcrowding of shelters in Southern states, according to Tori Fugate, director of communications at Shelter Animals Count. Her group found that, notwithstanding a spike at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, overall dog adoptions dropped by 13% between 2019 and 2024. Fugate attributed this to the growing cost of living, from housing to medical care to food. 

“Anything that is happening to people is impacting pets,” she said. “We’re seeing across the country that there are fewer resources available for pet owners. Vet clinics have closed. There’s not as many low-cost options as there used to be.”

As a result, more animals are being euthanized each year, particularly in the South, according to the organization.

In 2024, approximately 334,000 dogs were euthanized across the country, according to Shelter Animals Count. The total non-live outcomes for dogs in shelters, including euthanasia (89%) or from dying or being lost in care (11%), has increased by 9% since 2019. The states with the highest animal kill rates are Mississippi (18.3%), North Carolina (14.3%), Alabama (14.2%), Arkansas (12.6%) and Louisiana (12.6%), as documented by The Special Reports Team at Veterinarians.org. The 2024 report only noted the top 10 states with the highest and lowest animal shelter kill rates, neither of which included New York.

Despite the numbers, Scofield said Long Island shelters are doing their best to connect these animals with their forever homes.

“People think that the shelters in the South are evil. They aren’t,” she said. “I know these people that work at these shelters. They call me every week, desperate. Nobody wants to be euthanizing dogs — not on Long Island, not down in the South in these shelters.”