Overwhelmed Animal Shelters Look for Solutions

livemint.com:

Among the few feel-good developments during the pandemic was the remarkable rate at which Americans brought pets into their homes, emptying cages at animal shelters. Even better was how the trend appeared to survive—at least until now. This summer, facilities in many parts of the country face severe overcrowding, prompting pleas for pet adoptions to avoid the need to euthanize healthy animals.

According to the nonprofit Shelter Animals Count, “non-live outcomes" for shelter dogs was 25% higher in the first half of 2023 than during the same period two years ago. What happened? How did a heartwarming story flip so dramatically? The sad answer is that the economic difficulties affecting many Americans are also creating problems for their pets. Housing needs and high food prices are among the factors forcing people to give up or abandon animals acquired during the pandemic.

So-called puppy mills and backyard breeders that went into overdrive during Covid are now stuck with unwanted animals. Compounding the problem is a nationwide shortage of veterinarians, resulting in less spaying and neutering. At the personal level, “Many people who took puppies into their homes during the pandemic are finding the animals have grown too large to keep," said Beth Brookhouse, an executive at SPCA Monterey County in California.

“Many of these dogs were never trained or properly cared for, and now they’re flooding shelters across the country." Typical is the situation in Cobb County, north of Atlanta. Steve Hammond, the county’s director for animal services, said “Our intake for the year is up 17%," which translates to more than 1,000 additional animals. His unit recently had to euthanize 44 healthy animals due to lack of space.