A rumor stating the Waldron mayor was planning on euthanizing all dogs in the city’s shelter has led to a mass adoption of pets in the River Valley community, the mayor’s office says.
The rumor started circulating earlier this week on online social media, urging people to adopt dogs from the City of Waldron Animal Shelter to stop the city from euthanizing all of the dogs in the coming days.
Mayor Don Owens told 5NEWS the rumors are false, and he has made no such orders. Many dogs, though, are being taken off of the city’s hands because of the rumor.
Owens said several more dogs than usual have been adopted from the shelter this week, including four or five Wednesday. He said he believed the shelter housed about 16 dogs.
“If everyone who called and said they’re going to come pick them up do, they might be gone by the end of the day,” he said.
The mayor said the shelter does sometimes have to euthanize animals to make room for new ones, but there is no current order to euthanize the dogs. The city has put down about eight dogs in the span of the last few years, he said.
If the dogs promised to potential owners are not picked up, there is no plan to put them down in the coming weeks or in the near future, Owens said.
5NEWS contacted the shelter for comment. Employees deferred comment to the mayor’s office.
