Humane Society shelters in Kitchener, Stratford received 2,300 animals last year | 24CA News

Humane Society shelters in Kitchener and Stratford obtained greater than 2,300 animals in 2022, a spokesperson instructed Global News on Wednesday.

“In 2020 and 2021, we saw roughly 15 or 1,600 animals each year through both of our centres,” mentioned Calla James, director group engagement & outreach for the Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo & Stratford Perth (HSKWSP).

“But in 2022, that went up to over 2,300 animals coming through our doors.”

She factors to a wide range of causes that individuals had been compelled to give up their animals final 12 months.

“We’re seeing people indicating that they can’t care for pets properly whether that be a time commitment, whether that’s being they can’t afford to cover medical bills or the cost of care,” James defined.

“So that could be including food or anything else that they might need as well as, like we said, a high reason is that they’ve encountered a medical issue that wasn’t anticipated or it just at that time they don’t have the finances to cover it.”

She famous that there 95 animals surrendered to the 2 shelters final 12 months in conditions the place the proprietor was unable to afford medical care.

“In a lot of cases, those are typically pretty emergency reasons,” James shared.

“We definitely know that the economy is impacting things. People are having to choose between feeding their pets and feeding their family. The cost of housing has increased and we’re definitely seeing people reach out for those reasons.”

She mentioned that the Humane Society does provide some assist that will permit individuals to maintain their pets.

“Our goal is to keep people and pets together first and foremost, and of course, to offer that support secondary to that, where if they need to come in, then that’s where we’re here to try to help in any way we can,” James mentioned.

“We are definitely noticing that we have an uptick in people calling not just for surrendering, but also for looking for assistance for pets,” she mentioned.

“They’re wanting to know what programs or resources might there be out there because they’re having a particular struggle, whether it be with behavior and training, whether it be with feeding their pet.”

In order to help, the Humane Society gives plenty of packages to assist together with movies on canine and cat coaching, low-cost veterinary assist in addition to a meals financial institution.

“During the COVID pandemic, we launched an emergency pet food bank in partnership with a variety of other organizations,” James famous.

“We’ve continued that ourselves, and we now call it our Pet Pantry program. And in 2023, we moved from appointment based to just a drop in base.”

While they did obtain tons of of additional animals final 12 months, James says that the shelters are staying empty for essentially the most half as animals are nonetheless discovering houses pretty rapidly.

“Our average length of stay for small animals, cats and dogs was normally under a week,” she famous. “But now we are seeing longer stays.”

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