Columbus County Shelter animals traveling as far and wide as Italy

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Thanks to social media, the Columbus County Animal Shelter is placing animals across the state, country and even the world, according to a news release.

Columbus County Animal Control Manager Joey Prince said the shelter recently placed animals in Asheville, Tennessee, Indianapolis and even as far as Italy. Prince said the placements are thanks to volunteers working hard via their Facebook pages.

Prince said Isis the cat was transported by the Columbus Humane Society last weekend, March 18, to the Whiskers for Life rescue in Asheville. Mille the cat was also along for the ride. The new owner, who lives in Maryville, Tennessee, met the Humane Society in Asheville to take the kitten to its new home.

Prince said early this Saturday, March 25, the Humane Society is scheduled to take  Petey the cat to the airport for her Delta Airline flight to Indianapolis, Indiana.

He said Tiger the dog, however, has the longest journey ahead of him. A fan of the volunteer dog Facebook page, Tim, shared a picture of Tiger with a friend of who lives in Italy. Due to the 50% increase in dogs coming into the shelter this year, Prince said it was possible that Tiger would be put to sleep Friday, but social media gave him a much brighter future.

Tim, a friend of the family in Italy, will be traveling from Maine, and is picking Tiger up Friday, and once all necessary transport papers have been completed, Tiger will be on his way to his new family in Italy.

Prince said the shelter is suffering from a double whammy right now. He said in addition to the increase in dogs, every spring sees lots of cats entering the shelter, and that has already started. He said the excess of animals is straining both space and resources.

If you wish to adopt, check out the pages below:

The cats for the shelter can be found on the Urgent Cats of Columbus County Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/WhitevilleNCUrgentShelterCats/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1287257941333934

While the dogs currently available for adoption can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Urgent-Dogs-of-Columbus-County-NC-Animal-Shelter-Volunteer-Page-1415246195153581/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1415452675132933