BALD KNOB, Ark. – A local animal shelter’s Facebook post about euthanizing its dogs spreads quickly across the state before being taken down by the page.

“We are going to make some decisions that are maybe a little harder than we have in the past,” said Bald Knob Mayor Barth Grayson.

Mayor Barth Grayson said expenses are getting high in Bald Knob, and one place to start cutting back is at the animal shelter.

“At the last meeting, I kind of put everyone on notice that we’re going to start being a little more conservative with our money,” he said.

This week, the Bald Knob Animal Shelter posted on Facebook that dogs would start being euthanized to free up space in the shelter.. the post was later taken down.

Grayson said it did not tell the whole story.

“If they come in here and they’ve got heartworms and in real bad shape, instead of treating them with several hundreds of dollars, we may have to look at euthanizing some of those,” Grayson said.

The mayor said the dogs at risk are vicious dogs not claimed by an owner after ten days, or ones with serious health issues like heartworms or canine parvovirus, also known as parvo.

Grayson said sometimes, these health needs are the reason owners abandon the dogs.

“Some people get to where they can’t take care of them and in their mind, they’re unsalvageable.”

Grayson said since the now-deleted post went up, more dogs have been adopted, and he hopes to get the word out so he can save more, including those who might need extra care.

“Every dog that is in the shelter is somebody’s pet,” he said. “We don’t want to kill the animals if they’re adoptable, and we’re going to give them every chance to be adopted.”

Right now, all adoption fees are waived at the Bald Knob Animal Shelter.

Grayson also encourages you to be sure and get your dog spayed or neutered to avoid this overflow of unwanted dogs the city is seeing.