SALT LAKE CITY — The Humane Society of Utah will rescue several of the dogs housed at the overcrowded Iron County Animal Shelter in Cedar City.
The Iron County shelter holds a maximum of 16 dogs and six cats.
According to Iron County sheriff's deputy Jeremy Holm, "We have 16 dogs right now, and it's pretty overwhelming. We constantly have to turn other animals away."
Officials say overcrowding at the shelter could bring a change in Iron County's no-kill policy.
To try to prevent the shelter from euthanizing animals, the Humane Society agreed to send rescue coordinator Jessica Almeida to Cedar City Tuesday to retrieve as many animals as possible and bring them back to Salt Lake City for adoption.
Sheriff Mark Gower says he has never seen a pet overpopulation problem of such proportions in Iron County. He attributes pet abandonment to the poor economy.
"We see a lot of people abandoning their dogs, because they can't afford to take care of them," he said.
Gene Baierschmidt, the Humane Society of Utah's executive director, said: "We always want to extend help to other shelters in our state anytime we can, and prevent the needless euthanization of adoptable animals. Based on our track record in 2009 of finding homes for every adoptable dog which entered our facility, we feel confident we can help alleviate some of the pressure on the Iron County Animal Shelter."