LAKELAND – Some animal shelters in the Lakeland region have seen an increase in the length of stays for dogs and cats in their facilities.
Jewels Hampshire, manager of the Lac La Biche Regional Humane Society, said in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, pet adoptions have slowed down considerably, and this has meant longer stays for dogs and cats.
Before the pandemic, she said, many animals would only stay in the shelter for a week tops.
“Now, we have animals in here that could be up to six months waiting for a new home,” Hampshire told Lakeland This Week.
Much of this, Hampshire said, can be attributed to the rising cost of living. If people can’t feed themselves, they are not going to be able to feed their animals she acknowledges. As a consequence, many of these household pets find themselves in the shelter system long-term.
“You got to feed your kids over your animals, and so with the cost of living, you need to make sure you can pay for your rent, pay for your food, pay for your vehicle, and unfortunately, pet services and food will go more last on the list,” she said.
Laura Hoyt, manager of the St. Paul Animal shelter, said the length of stay for dogs at the shelter is quite extensive, ranging upwards of at least six to eight months, while the average stay for cats is roughly six months.
“For cats, it is a bit better, but not much,” Hoyt said.
Hoyt said one dog at the St. Paul Animal Shelter has been there since June 2023, while the longest feline resident has lived at the shelter for roughly a year and a half.
According to Hoyt, there has been a substantial increase in the number of animals who find themselves in the shelter system, be it from owner surrender or those found as strays.
“Unfortunately, I believe that because our shelters are constantly at their capacity, pet owners are not able to surrender their pets and are just instead abandoning them or allowing them to run at large,” she said.
Shelter staff, Hoyt said, are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to convince potential pet parents that adopting from a shelter is the best way to go.
“Giving a shelter animal a home is not only helping that animal, but it is rewarding for the humans too, knowing you made a difference in an animal’s life,” she stated.
Lindsay McNaught, executive director of the Bonnyville and District SPCA, said on average, most of the animals at the shelter stay for a minimum of four months, though some stays are longer. Kittens and puppies, she said, are typically easier to adopt out than adult animals.
Staff at the SPCA have noticed an influx of stray dogs and calls about people wanting to surrender dogs. While the shelter is often at capacity for both dogs and cats, canines tend to have longer stays now than in the past.
“We are finding that dogs are staying at the shelter a lot longer than in previous years,” McNaught said. “We've also noticed that many other shelters in the area are also at capacity with dogs, and we frequently get calls to take in stray dogs from as far as Edmonton.”
Danielle Donovan, the executive director of the Lakeland Humane Society (LHS) in Cold Lake, said staff with the animal shelter have noticed that while puppies and kittens typically get adopted very quickly, middle aged dogs aged from two to six years old generally have to wait a lot longer to find their furever home. These animals, according to Donovan, have stays at the Lakeland Humane Society ranging from a few months to even years.
“We have had several of what we like to call ‘long-term residents’ at the LHS, with some of them being up for adoption for over two years. The same will go for cats, but we have found in the past two to three years that cats are starting to get adopted a lot quicker than dogs and we are not sure what the reasoning is behind this,” Donovan stated.
As far as trends regarding an upturn in new residents at the Lakeland Humane Society, Donovan said the shelter has noticed an increase in animals at the shelter, especially in the past three years. The Humane Society, she explained, typically receives two to three phone calls a day from members of the public looking to surrender animals.
“The Lakeland Humane Society has been working at max capacity since the pandemic, and we do not see it slowing down in the future anytime soon. This problem is not only at the Lakeland Humane Society, but this is a province-wide crisis animal rescues are currently in,” she said.
