TOOELE, Utah — Tooele community members are searching for their own solutions to the overflow pet problem that caused controversial changes to the city shelter.
It's been two months since the Tooele City Animal Shelter closed its doors to the public. The building mostly houses aggressive dogs.
Some dogs are still up for adoption by appointment, but surrenders are no longer accepted.
"They didn't help solve the problem whatsoever — they just made a problem that already exists even worse," said Brian Belden with the Belden Haus K9 dog training business.
The people of Tooele are now not sure what to do with the pets people gave up on.
"Now what we're getting is a huge influx of dogs that are just getting left in the mountains or left on a trail or somebody just opens the door of their house and lets their dog run out," said Belden.
Belden has heard excuses so desperate, that one person even lied and claimed someone died to avoid the backlash of admitting they couldn't care for a dog anymore.
"I understand that you get so frustrated that you just want to rehome your dog and take your dog to the shelter, but give me a few minutes of your time," he said.
He and his wife, Mikayla, are expanding their training services to both drop-offs and in-home visits in hopes that owners will be more likely to keep their pets.
"Usually one session people are like, 'Wow, I have a completely different dog already,'" said Mikayla.
There are many reasons why people get rid of their animals, but the Beldens hope behavior will no longer be one.
"We've had people that are in tears over it. People that just don't even know what to say because they're like, 'This is not even my dog,'" said Mikayla.
"If you have the skill set to make your community a little bit better, I urge you to go ahead and do that," said Brian.
