A beautiful dog, listed as a mastiff mix, arrived at Miami Dade Animal Services on June 17, 2016. Although the new shelter had been opened, somehow Olga ended up at the old shelter. Yesterday, August 19, that was confirmed by a poster on Facebook who wrote:

Just confirmed Olga is in old facility!

Volunteers are angry that although this dog — labeled by the veterinarian who treated her as “very sweet,” — has been at the shelter for over two months, she still does not even have a picture on her PetHarbor page.

And while her information is on PetHarbor without a picture, when a volunteer inquired about her, she was told that Olga is unavailable. The shelter email stated:

Good morning,

Thank you for showing interest in Olga (A1792731) she’s is currently unavailable now. A copy of your email will be noted in her profile. See attachment for medical.

Thank you,

Pets

Olga had arrived at the shelter very underweight. However, in two months she must have made progress and should be available for rescue at the minimum. There is interest in Olga. The shelter is not responding. Olga does not seem to be at the new shelter. The big question is: Why?

Why are dogs still at the old shelter when the new shelter has been open for over two months? (For proof that there are still dogs at the old shelter, watch this video posted today by a former shelter volunteer.) The new shelter has quarantine rooms. I have seen them. And while the kennels at the new shelter are abysmally small, at least the dogs have air conditioning.

Olga is a big girl — almost 100 pounds. She’s an impossible dog to lose. So where is she? Please contact the shelter for more information.

UPDATE: This was received from MDAS in response to an email request:

Olga (A1792731) went to an off-site facility for quarantine to be taken to our satellite adoption center at Petco. Olga was being treated for a URI and under quarantine, at which time another dog got URI and Olga was put under additional quarantine at the Medley facility as a precautionary measure.  She will be moved to Petco for adoption once her quarantine period has ended.

Some of the previous questions still remain. Is the old shelter going to be used indefinitely as a quarantine facility? Do sick dogs deserve to be kept in a facility with no air conditioning when the healthy dogs have a comfortable environment? Why is there no room in the quarantine rooms at the new shelter? If Olga is to be taken to an adoption site, why was she listed as “unavailable?”

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