It started with one pup left on the shore of Utah Lake, and five years later, Barbi Carroll is hooked.

"You start having dog faces in your nightmares," said Carroll, founder of Utah Labrador Retriever Club and Rescue in Orem. "You think, 'I should have saved that one too.' "

But there's no way to save them all. Between veterinarian bills, food and a short supply of foster homes, it's just not possible.

"We usually tend to get six dogs throughout the day," said Kierstan Munford, assistant director for the North Utah Valley Animal Shelter in Lindon.

Of those dogs, the majority are Labs or other large breeds, said Carroll. Since the fall of 2002, her group has helped an estimated 3,000 Labs find permanent homes. It's only a small percentage of the total number out there, she said.

"A lot of people think they're cute when they're little and don't realize they are a lot of work once they get older," said Julianne Stokes, a secretary at the South Utah Valley Animal Shelter in Spanish Fork.

Groups like the Utah Lab Rescue help save taxpayer money by taking in pups headed for euthanasia. The average amount of time it takes the organization to find a home for the pups ranges from a few days to weeks. In the meantime, the dogs live with foster families who care for them and are involved with choosing the owner.

Jennifer Parrish, a Lab foster parent, started when she lost her own dog.

"My dog had a great life, and I wanted to do something to give back," said Parrish.

Parrish and her husband made a pact not to adopt the first pup they fostered, and have now helped seven find homes. It was the fourth dog they decided to adopt -- a German shorthair.

"The right home always seems to surface," she said.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that every year millions of companion animals enter shelters, and of those, only 15 percent of the dogs are ever returned to their owners.

At the South Utah Valley Animal Shelter, those numbers are better -- 40 percent of the dogs that have come in since January have been claimed by their original owners.

Mike Morgan, the south shelter's director, said they try to keep pets from being euthanized by feeding and caring for them as long as possible.

At the North Utah Valley Animal Shelter, the rule for strays is a five-day holding period, a short temperament test and, if they pass, a five-day adoption period.

"We get hundreds of calls and hundreds of e-mails every month from people who can't keep their dogs, or who just don't want them," said Carroll, of the state's only Lab-specific rescue group, which always has three to 10 dogs awaiting adoption.

Some shelters contact the group when the pooches are nearing the end of their stay at the facility. Carroll said she wishes more people would get involved in adopting from their local shelters. One day she also hopes to have volunteers who post pictures and information on the group's Web site, www.utahlabrescue.com. This, she believes, might make it possible to help more pups find caring homes.

Right now, the group only takes in dogs from extreme circumstances or shelters. People wishing to give their pup up for adoption must keep it until a home can be found.

The stories range from neglect and abuse to owners dying and leaving behind orphaned dogs.

Karen Bailey, a Cedar Hills resident, helps run the organization and recently took in a litter of puppies after they entered a shelter where a dog was already in labor.

"Our vet had to induce labor six times to get all of the puppies out," said Carroll. Due to the dog's age and breeding history, Carroll said, "she was done having puppies."

The pups were bottle-fed until they were adopted.

Utah is one of the top producers of Labradors nationwide, Carroll said, but right now supply outweighs demand.

"There are so many of them. It's really hard to adopt them all out," said Morgan.

They can be some of the best behaved dogs in the shelter, but because they don't stand out it's harder to find them a home, he said.

"When you are adopting, you are saving a life," Stokes said.

Carroll said it's volunteers who make the organization possible. One family takes in dogs while their father is deployed, while another young girl is determined to one day start a rescue organization of her own.

"It would be nice not to be needed," said Carroll, explaining that if dog owners would just get their pets spayed or neutered it could alleviate over-crowding in rescue groups and shelters.

Families choosing to adopt from shelters in Utah County must pay for a voucher to have their pet fixed before they can take them home.

"If people would just spay or neuter, we wouldn't have to euthanize," said Stokes. "The cities end up paying for it. Not only are animals being euthanized, but it costs money to do it."

The cost for a person to have their animal euthanized and disposed of is about $55. The cost for a spay or neuter at the Utah County Spay and Neuter Clinic ranges from $50 to $90 depending on the size and sex of the dog.

Brooke Barker can be reached at 344-2559 or bbarker@heraldextra.com.

Local Resources on Adopting:

Utah Labrador Retriever Club and Rescue-

www.utahlabrescue.com

(801) 426-5414

North Utah Valley Animal Shelter-

193 N. 2000 West, Lindon

www.nuvas.org

(801) 785-3442

South Utah Valley Animal Shelter-

582 W. 3000 North, Spanish Fork

www.suvas.org

(801) 851-4080

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.