More than 50 dogs are available for adoption between the animal shelters in the DeKalb area for National Adopt-a-Shelter Dog Month.

The month is promoted by the American Humane Society and highlights the advantages to adopting over “shopping” for a dog.

“Every animal that’s born needs a home, and those in shelters are generally more in need of a family than others,” said Roberta Shoaf, DeKalb County Animal Shelter director.

“I have people come in all the time that tell me they adopted a pet and it’s the best pet they’ve ever owned,” Shoaf said. “A lot of the time animals are given up for reasons out of their control but they’re still great pets.”

Shoaf has adopted several pets from shelters and has more than 20 years of experience working with animals.

“I have four dogs from the shelter and I’ve had a total of seven,” said DeKalb resident Daryl Hopper. “That’s the only way I would adopt animals.”

Tails Humane Society, 2250 Barber Greene Road, performs behavior assessments on its animals to determine if they are adoptable.

“Some animals may need some work with potty training or leash walking, but we provide potential adoptees with help in those areas,” said Tails Executive Director Beth Drake. “We match new adopters with the right pet for their lifestyle.”

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 5 million to 7 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year.

“I just feel that [animals] don’t have to have pedigree to have a nice home,” Hopper said. “They need homes and we have a good home.”

Animal shelters provide temporary homes for animals whose owners no longer can care for them, have been abused and who have been abandoned.

“We take in animals that have been surrendered for whatever reasons, and they are harder to place,” Shoaf said. “We have wonderful dogs and cats in need of a nice home if you want to rescue an animal.”

Tails has 20 dogs available for adoption, and the DeKalb County Animal Shelter, 16173 Baseline Road in Genoa, has 31 dogs ready to be adopted.

“The last time we [adopted], I absolutely did not want to adopt a dog. We already had three,” Hopper said. “We went to the shelter and they brought out the puppies and one fell in love with our nine-month-old granddaughter.”

To this day, the little girl and her Chihuahua companion are inseparable.

To find out more information about adopting an animal from either of DeKalb’s shelters, visit their websites at www.tailshumanesociety.org and www.dekalbcountyanimalshelter.org.