Abundant puppies are shipped out of state

North Carolina has become a reliable exporter in one commodity that no industry in the state would celebrate: homeless puppies.

Stricter policies on spaying and neutering in other states have reduced the number of puppies available, so operators of nonprofit animal shelters and rescue groups make forays into North Carolina to pull the tail-wagging treasures out of private and public shelters to be adopted out of state.

The practice has been credited with saving thousands of animals from being euthanized in North Carolina, where shelters kill an average of 75 percent of the animals they take in.

But it is controversial among animal-welfare advocates, some of whom say it only redistributes the pet overpopulation problem without making a long-term contribution to solving it and sometimes leaves shelters here with only adolescent and adult dogs, who are more difficult to place.

"Some people would look at it and say, 'They don't need to be coming down here and taking our puppies,' " said Linsie Lambert, who has run an animal sanctuary in Robeson County with her sister for 15 years with little outside financial support. "I really don't care where they're from. I'm just wanting to help the animals."

No one tracks the number of dogs that leave North Carolina to be adopted. The state veterinarian's office, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, can't even say exactly how many animals come into shelters each year, because it tracks only shelters that receive public funding -- and not all of those file the required annual reports.

State public health veterinarian Dr. Carl Williams said that in 2006, shelters that filed reports accepted nearly 303,000 animals, including cats, dogs and other species. Of those, 226,000 were euthanized. Nationwide, the Humane Society of the United States estimates that 6 million to 8 million animals come into shelters each year and that 2 million to 4 million are killed.

Transfers started in 1990s

Out-of-state shelters began collecting puppies from North Carolina and other Southern states in the 1990s, as laws requiring all animals in some states to be spayed or neutered began to reduce the number of puppies turning up in their shelters. Shelter representatives from New York, Rhode Island, Minnesota and elsewhere would call overcrowded Southern shelters to check on the availability of puppies and then send a van to collect litters. In some cases, the shelters paid for airfare.

Now, shelters list their adoptable pets on Web sites, with photos and descriptions, which shelter workers in other states cruise looking for litters they can take out as a group. Some shelters send groups of puppies several times a year during "puppy season," generally early spring and summer.

The practice is still welcomed by many shelters, especially those where money and space are limited and euthanasia rates are particularly high. Others now discourage interstate transfers.

"The ones that go up north, there are some groups that are very legitimate," said Simon Woodrup, volunteer coordinator for the Animal Protection Society of Durham County, which takes in about 7,000 animals each year. "Other times, it's a little questionable, and you wonder where they're going.

Local transfers only

"Our current policy is that we only adopt out to Durham and neighboring counties," Woodrup said. "Part of it is, we want to sort of be in the vicinity if something doesn't work out, so we can get the dog back, or the people can bring the dog back to us, so it doesn't end up back in a bad situation."