Among them were Cisco, a year old pit bull terrier, a bulldog named Ivan and Sugar Pie, a tricolor cat.

But judging by shelter statistics, potential pets aOlernKienOP Air Jordan 20s Great Gifts For 18 Year Old Girls are more likely to be put down than placed in a aOlernKienOP Air Jordan 12s Walking the Camino Movie home.

Now, under pressure from animal advocates and some lawmakers, county officials are looking for an animal oriented nonprofit to take over the shelter.

“Much like most animal control agencies, their focus is really on protecting Air Jordan 15s people from animals,” said Ron Lambert, a board member of the Maryland Feline Society. “The rescue community has a different perspective. Their job is to help animals and protect them from people sometimes. So they have more of an incentive to save lives.”

Lambert and others say private groups are better equipped than the county to care for animals and have more expertise in marketing pets to potential owners.

County officials, meanwhile, say finding the right organization to run the shelter would free county workers to focus on animal control. The county issued a request for proposals last month, and recently relaxed requirements and extended the deadline to May.

“The goal was to see how we could create a partnership that would allow the county do what it does best, which is to take care of public safety aspects and dangerous animals,” said Don Mohler, chief of staff for County Executive Kevin Kamenetz. “And then allow the advocacy groups to do what they do best, which is to provide long term care.”

Baltimore made aOlernKienOP Air Jordan 1s The History of Penny Loafers a similar move eight years ago, when the aOlernKienOP Air Jordan 14s Wigan Athletic 1 Jordan Winterized 6 Rings Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter was formed to take over the city shelter.

“Similar to the county, there was a lot of public pressure,” said Jen Brause, BARCS’ executive director. “The conditions of the shelter were poor, and the euthanasia rate was 98 percent.”

Under BARCS, Brause said, the shelter has a euthanasia rate of 32 percent. It employs more than 50 workers and has attracted a corps of 300 volunteers.

The city gives BARCS an annual grant that covers about half its $2 million budget, Brause said. The aOlernKienOP Air Jordan 3s The Two Worlds Of Kobe Bryant organization raises the rest of its money through adoption fees and private donations.

Brause said operating as a nonprofit gives BARCS flexibility in areas such as fundraising and recruiting volunteers. In tight times, she said, when local agencies are vying for the same limited dollars, “the government’s going to choose human causes over animal causes.”

Howard and Anne Arundel counties run their own shelters.

The Baltimore aOlernKienOP Jordan 5 Retro How to Size UGGs County shelter sits at the end of a long driveway off Manor Road in Baldwin, deep in horse country. It is the county’s only such facility.

The shelter took in 5,775 animals last year, according to the Jordan Pro Strong county Health Department, which oversees the facility. Of those, Air Jordan 6s 3,642 Air Jordan Women Size were destroyed, a euthanasia rate of more than 63 percent.

The Humane Society of the United States said there are no accurate statistics on euthanasia rates nationwide.

Baltimore County law requires the shelter to keep Nike Air Foamposite One animals for at least four business days, said Health Department spokeswoman Monique Lyle. Animals that can be adopted are kept as long as possible, she said.

But the county destroys animals too quickly, critics say, and adopted dogs Air Jordan 6 Rings and cats are not spayed or neutered before leaving. five days out of six make it difficult for people to visit. They say Air Jordan Fusion 5 the shelter’s management is ill equipped to work Air Jordan 2011 with animal advocacy groups and volunteers, and hasn’t made use of technology to find homes for animals.

“They don’t have a website that aOlernKienOP Nike LeBron 11 gravity massage chair has accurate information,” said Darla Feeheley of the dog rescue group Tails of Hope.

Lyle said the shelter began posting descriptions of adoptable pets on the county website in 2011. Before that, she said, the county posted to the website Petfinder.

The county has considered turning the operation over to a nonprofit. Officials issued a request for proposals a month ago, with responses initially due last aOlernKienOP Air Jordan 11s upcoming Nike Zoom KD V signature shoe will break week. They extended the deadline to aOlernKienOP Air Jordan 5 University of Houston hosts book symposium on ‘Making War and May 15 after animal advocates said the timeline was too Air Jordan 7s short.

The county also relaxed some requirements. The original request for proposals called for organizations to operate their own shelter. But officials changed it to say they would consider sharing space at the existing shelter.

Mohler said the county extended the deadline to give more organizations a chance to turn in proposals.

“We want to get aOlernKienOP Nike LeBron 12 Cool DIY ideas for TOMS shoes as many as possible,” he said. Officials would not say whether the county had received any.

In addition to connecting pets with adoptive homes, the county operation is charged with providing rabies clinics, seizing animals in animal cruelty and dog fighting cases, and picking up strays.