Communities in southern Alberta dealing with influx of abandoned and stray dogs – Lethbridge | 24CA News
Dogs are being left behind, deserted and forgotten, and it’s inflicting issues for Alberta companies left to take care of them.
Unfortunately, rural communities in southern Alberta like Coaldale are feeling the brunt of those choices by pet homeowners and the city is seeing a rise within the variety of requires wandering animals.
According to Mark Anderson, supervisor of Community Policing in Coaldale, the city doesn’t have the house or capability to deal with the variety of canine being referred to as in.
He shared that 2023 began out with just a few canine and puppies being deserted in close by fields, parking tons and on the aspect of the street, and it’s since continued to be an issue.
“We don’t have an animal shelter in Coaldale at the present time,” mentioned Anderson. “We’ve had to rely on the good graces of a number of town employees who have taken in dogs for us to look after, also in other communities around us.
“There’s such a problem now finding space for animals and animal shelters.”
Recently, with a purpose to mitigate the issue, a bunch of involved residents has come collectively to create the Coaldale and Regional Wellness Society to assist animals discover fosters and ceaselessly houses.
While nonetheless within the early phases of formation, the Town of Coaldale can be trying to create a everlasting animal shelter that could possibly be constructed inside the subsequent 18 months to 2 years.
In the meantime, the city continues to search for volunteers who’re prepared to foster canine as they’re rapidly working out of choices to deal with animals.
Staff on the Lethbridge Animal Shelter really feel for Coaldale as they’re coping with a really comparable problem.
“These communities don’t have shelter staff to care for these animals long term,” defined Skylar Plourde, director with Community Animal Services in Lethbridge.
“We are lucky that we have that, although our facility was built at a time where animals weren’t being abandoned at the shelter.
“We’re kind of pushing our limits here too.”
Plourde mentioned that whereas Lethbridge carried out a system in 2022 to handle the consumption of strays being reported, it’s reaching capability.
Even with the methods in place, Plourde pointed on the market’s pattern of individuals making false claims about stray animals.
Allegedly, individuals locally have been calling Community Animal Services indicating {that a} stray animal has been discovered on their property, however as soon as the canine is collected and introduced again to the shelter, workers are discovering that these pets are chipped and truly belong to the handle they’ve been picked up from.
Which would imply that, moderately than re-homing, some people are passing off their very own canine to the shelter.
Rescue teams have additionally been overwhelmed with the variety of canine being left behind, with A Better Chance Animal Rescue in Pincher Creek making an attempt to absorb canine from throughout southern Alberta.
“In some situations, there is nowhere to go. Every shelter is full.
“We’ve been trying to accommodate where we can, so we don’t have to turn away these dogs,” mentioned Melanie Glen, proprietor of A Better Chance Animal Rescue.
Glen mentioned this summer season has been busier than ever, with the invention of deserted canine in unusual areas.
“We just had one from the Twin Butte area, which we’ve never had stray dogs there before, along with local campgrounds,” Glen mentioned. “People are just finding them all over the place and bringing them into the shelter.”
Overall, many of those communities, shelters and rescuers are asking pet homeowners to take duty for his or her animals and discover higher choices to re-home them moderately than leaving them in obscure locations.
In addition, those that are in a spot to undertake or foster are inspired to succeed in out to native shelters or rescues to alleviate the strain.
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