Monongalia County Dog Pound

The Monongalia County Dog Pound is responsible for housing stray and unwanted dogs, puppies, cats and kittens.  It occasionally houses other small animals such as unwanted pet rabbits, ferrets and hamsters.  It is a county facility and is responsible to the Monongalia County Commissioners.

For the 1999 calendar year, the Pound housed 2326 animals of which slightly less than 900 were cats and kittens and slightly more than 1400 were dogs and puppies.  Stray animals are kept, by WV state law, for five working days to allow owners to claim their animals.  After the five working days, the animals are available for adoption.  The adoption rate is around 31-33% with the remaining animals being euthanized.

Pete Christoff, the director and lead dog warden, and Nick Nimcheck, also a dog warden, are responsible for responding to animal complaints and picking up stray dogs.  Three part-time staff provide support: one is responsible for the morning cleaning and sanitizing of all pens and cages.  Two are responsible for working during the hours when the Pound is open to the public to (1) assist in adoptions; (2) take in unwanted or stray animals; and (3) feed the animals.  They are Courtney Lewis and Dana Johnson.

The hours are:     

Costs include rabies and 7-way immunizations for adult dogs; 7-way immunization and worming for puppies; rabies 4-way immunizations for adult cats; 4-way immunizations and worming for kittens.  Spaying or neutering is mandatory and the cost is included in the adoption fees.

The Pound has two adjunct programs:
         1.  The Pound Foster Parenting Program that focuses on placing pregnant or mother dogs and cats and their puppies and kittens into foster care when those puppies and kittens are too young for adoption and cannot be kept at the Pound for the extended time necessary to reach an adoptable age.
         2.  The Exotic Jungle Cat Program that focus on taking cats and kittens from the Pound, immunizing,  spaying or neutering, testing for feline leukemia or FIV (AIDS in cats), with the testing program being sponsored by the Monongalia County Humane Society.  These cats and kittens then are available for adoption at Exotic Jungle and some are returned as vet checked felines for pound adoption.

The Dominion Post, in conjunction with the Monongalia County Humane Society, provides "Pet of the Week" which appears in the Thursday edition in the Metro-Region section.