Area shelters overrun with kittens, dogs

Across most of Ontario, the COVID effect of seeing pets dumped after being purchased by stay-at-home workers, has ebbed but not in Norfolk, Haldimand and Brant.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Brenda Cameron, an animal advocate and president of Purrfect Companions Animal Rescue in Delhi.

“We’re going non-stop. We’ve got kittens coming in half-dead, emaciated and riddled with fleas. They’re all anemic.

“We can barely keep up here. Something has to change.”

Purrfect Companions currently has about 550 cats under its care. Cameron says 200 of them are on the Delhi group’s property and the others are spread out to more than 50 kittens and pregnant cats in foster homes.

The situation isn’t just a feline problem.

The exact message is echoed by Cassia Bryden, an animal control officer with Hillside Kennels in Innerkip, who holds the current contract for animal control in Brant County and Norfolk County.

“We have so many incoming dogs that we just can’t keep up,” Bryden said.

“In a regular week we sometimes pick up three to seven strays and maybe three to five go home but within a few weeks the others would be adopted. When you’ve got 20 dogs coming and 18 of them aren’t being claimed, it’s a big problem.”

Bryden said the agency is seeing a lot of dogs with “quirks” thanks to the pandemic.

“They’re not socialized, they don’t like kids, they’re not good on leashes, they bite. The need for a behavioral assessment goes up and a lot of them aren’t passing so we’re faced with a dozen dogs with quirks that aren’t adoptable and there aren’t rehabilitation facilities available.”

In contrast, a spokesperson for the Ontario SPCA said numbers have finally settled down to the pre-pandemic levels of several years ago and there’s still a healthy interest in adoption.

But animal rescuers in this part of southwest Ontario say multiple factors have changed to cause the current animal crisis.

“People were at home and got pets because they were bored during COVID,” said Cameron, but that raised prices by 200 to 300 percent.

“Plus they had pets to entertain the kids or for company and could feed them but couldn’t afford the vet bills to get them fixed.”

A move across the country to buy up small veterinary operations by a large corporation has resulted in higher vet bills, said Cameron. Where a spaying procedure used to cost around $200, it now costs $600 to $800.

“Big companies are also buying up the pet foods and pet stores and prices are skyrocketing,” said Cameron.

With rising costs, many pet owners have little choice but to surrender their animal, although others choose to dump the cats and dogs, hoping they’ll be rescued and eventually find a home.

“We have so many people reaching out, emailing, coming to the door and everyone wants us to help or give us their cats. I have 52 people on my wait list and some have colonies of cats!”

In desperation, Cameron posted her frustrations on Facebook, explaining she has no room for the mother cats with litters that continue to be left at her door and is unable to even deal with foster applications because she’s so busy hand-feeding sick kittens.

The post generated a lot of activity: volunteer offers, foster applications and dozens of parcels sent to her door of litter, cleaning products and paper towels from her Amazon wish list.

Bryden was in a similar situation where Hillside, and her own rescue operation, called Sato Saved End of the Line Dog Rescue and Rehabilitation.

She also posted on social media trying to explain why Hillside is occasionally forced to euthanize an animal.

“We are in a dog/puppy crisis,” said the post.

“Dogs and puppies from backyard breeders are being dumped… we have not taken surrenders for over a years since we have been dealing with strays that people have tossed out the door.”

The post noted that Hillside, because of its municipal contracts, must pick up stray animals when called and has far more space for strays than smaller shelters that have to euthanize more animals when they are overwhelmed.

“We do everything in our power to get dogs either adopted or into a rescue. We do not want to euthanize dogs. We are forced to when we run out of room.”

Add in the ‘quirks’ to the high number of dogs coming in and Bryden says it’s a recipe for disaster since those qualified or willing to do the intensive work of rehabilitating a dog are full and overburdened already.

“Spay and neuter your pets,” begs Bryden. “The impact of one ‘whoops!’ litter can be so detrimental to other dogs in the system.”

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How to Help:

— Get your dog or cat spayed or neutered. If cost is an issue, contact a rescue program for help or advice.

— Donate money to the rescue programs that go out to save animals

— Donate goods. Most rescue agencies have an Amazon wish list where you can have items delivered, or are happy to take donations at their headquarters.

— If able, consider adopting an animal from a rescue group.

— If able, consider fostering cats or dogs for a rescue program

— Volunteer with a rescue group. More than just dealing with animals, they need things like cleaners and people with administrative, photographic or social media skills.