photo by: Joselyn King

Brittni Rice of Moundsville bonds with a pitbull she plans to adopt at the Ohio County Animal Shelter.

Brittni Rice went Friday morning to the Ohio County Animal Shelter to help her friend find a cat.

The friend didn’t find a cat she bonded with, but Rice went home with a pitbull.

“I found a friend,” an emotional Rice said as she snuggled the dog in the hallway.

She hadn’t yet given her new pet a name.

The Ohio County Animal Shelter is near full capacity with the number of dogs it is housing, and it is close to being full on the number of cats as well. As such, the Ohio County Commission has agreed to lower the adoption fee at the shelter from $80 to $30 for a time.

Those adopting a pet also get a $51 voucher to have the animal spayed or neutered.

There are no puppies or kittens at the shelter, according to Lori Russell, the shelter’s new director. Whenever a young animal comes in, it typically is quick to be adopted, she noted.

“As soon as we get a kitten on the website, it’s gone,” Russell said.

Purebred animals also are popular with those wanting to adopt — with the exception of one breed. According to Russell, a higher number of pitbulls are surrendered to the shelter or picked up as strays. And people can be reticent about adopting the high-energy canines, so these dogs often remain there in higher numbers.

“All of them are pretty sweet once they get to know you,” she noted.

Rice wasn’t daunted at the prospect of bonding with and adopting a new pitbull friend. She acknowledged being accustomed to larger, often rambunctious dogs.

“I don’t have a problem with them,” she said. “I think they’re just misunderstood.”

Another pitbull at the shelter named “Scooby” has been adopted out twice and brought back to the shelter both times. On Friday, he wore a doggy sweater proclaiming him an “official cookie taster.”

Russell noted it is especially heartbreaking when an adopted dog is returned, especially for the dog.

“We don’t want you to bring it back. We don’t want the dog traumatized then being brought back,” she said.

Most often, adopted animals are returned when they can’t get along with their new owners’ other pets, Russell said.

“We encourage you to bring your pets with you when you come to adopt and make sure they all get along,” she said.

Other reasons people return animals are that they discover they can’t afford to care for animals or they believe the animal they adopted “is sick” and don’t want to assume the cost for their medical care, according to Russell.

“We just want to get them all homes and love,” she said of the shelter’s cats and dogs.