PHOENIX (AZFamily) — With more and more animal shelters offering free adoption specials, Arizona’s Family is taking a closer look at why animal shelters in the Valley are so full right now.
This week our Whitney Clark went to three of the biggest shelters in the Valley, including the Arizona Humane Society, the Arizona Animal Welfare League and Maricopa County Animal Care and Control.
ARIZONA ANIMAL WELFARE LEAGUE
As of Wednesday morning, the Arizona Animal Welfare League had about 400 animals in its care from those at the shelter to foster. It’s noticing an increase in owner surrenders, and it’s taking longer for larger and medium dogs to get adopted.
AAWL President and CEO Alessandra Navidad says there’s also an uptick in cat intakes as there aren’t many organizations that will take in strays. Behavior concerns and access to affordable vet care are also contributing to capacity issues.
“Even though we are four years post-COVID, people are still struggling,” Navidad said. “People say the economy is doing well, but I think for the average person they are seeing much higher costs in terms of food and housing issues continue to be problematic.”
“They’re having to move in with family members,” she said. “And so you might have a daughter who moves in with her mom. Daughter has a pet and mom has a pet, then you have struggling behavior issues. But the root cause is housing.”
AAWL has surveyed pet owners and found the greatest need is basic vet care. Now, it’s changing the way it interacts with families after they adopt a pet.
“Before we would send you an email and be like, ‘Hey, how are things going?’ And then that was it,” Navidad said. “And now what we are doing is for an entire year after that animal goes home with you, we are calling you, we are checking in with you, being proactive. How are things going? Behaviorally, how are things going? How is that animal doing?”
One positive trend is Navidad says there has been an increase in cat adoptions, which may be because they are often easier pets and can be less expensive than dogs.
ARIZONA HUMANE SOCIETY
The Arizona Humane Society is offering free adoptions through July 7. The nonprofit said the situation is dire, and it’s hit a breaking point.
“There’s housing instability. There’s economic instability,” said Kelsey Dickerson with AHS.
At one point this week, it had more than 1,600 animals in its care — the most at once in its 67-year history. The shelter is using its old Sunnyslope campus to house the overflow of dogs.
AHS said there are a few factors contributing to the capacity issues. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the nonprofit says there were 3 million missed spay and neuter appointments across the country, which has lead to an increase in the animal population in the community. Many pet owners are also struggling to make ends meet with inflation and rising housing costs. With an ongoing veterinarian shortage and vet care that can be too expensive, it’s also seeing an increase in abandonments and cruelty cases.
Dickerson said the animal assistance team gets between 400 and 500 applicants a month trying to surrender their pets.
“Seeing loving families having to get rid of their pets because it’s the only option for them is really hard, but we are just really grateful for everyone who does try to do the right thing,” Dickerson said.
After putting out a call for help, as of Thursday evening, AHS said it hit a record with with 185 pets adopted in just seven hours. However it also got another 150 animals on Thursday. The website was down for a few hours but is back up with nearly 300 pets up for adoption.
MARICOPA COUNTY ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL
Like so many others, Maricopa County Animal Care and Control has been struggling with capacity issues for about a year. As of Thursday morning, it has about 780 dogs. Kim Powell, a spokesperson for MCACC said the limit is about 640.
Powell said overcapacity isn’t because of just one reason, but a number of problems compounding. When strays are brought in, they often don’t have collars or microchips, so it’s hard for the shelter to get in contact with the pet’s owners.
It’s taking longer for dogs to get adopted, Powell said, and most animals that get brought in are not spayed and neutered. As is the case with other shelters, pet owners may have skipped appointments going back to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and we are just now dealing with the fallout.
“After the pandemic a lot of people maybe skipped out on that appointment to get their pet altered and now those pandemic puppies and so on,” Powell said.
“We went from having an average length of stay for nine days to 17 days,” she said.
MCACC does have an upcoming adoption special. From July 3 to July 31, there will be free adoptions for dogs 6 months or older. This is thanks to the Bissell Pet Foundation.
HOW TO GET HELP AND GIVE HELP
All of the shelters are offering a variety of programs if you need help with vet care, housing, behavioral concerns and more.
AAWL is working with the Arizona Pet Project, which can help owners keep pets in their homes. It also has an in-house case worker who can troubleshoot and have one-on-one conversations with concerned pet owners.
It also offers a clinic on Saturdays with low-cost veterinary care.
The Arizona Humane Society also works with Pet Housing Help AZ. The nonprofit has an adoption guarantee, so you can bring the pet back for the life of the animal if it is not a good fit. Here is more information about its low-cost veterinary care.
“Be a responsible pet owner,” Powell said. “That is the best thing you can do to help the shelter.”
Make sure your dog has a county license and that they are up to date on vaccines and they are microchipped, she added. Powell said MCACC is offering free microchips through the end of the year.
Also make sure your pet is spayed and neutered. “If your dog is unneutered, chances are they will have the tendency to roam to go find a mate,” Powell said. “So it really makes a big impact not only on the lost pets but more pets who are coming in.”
While that procedure can be expensive, the Animal Defense League of Arizona is one of the groups who offers low-cost spay and neuter clinics.
MCACC also now has diversion navigators. They can help you if you are thinking about surrendering a pet.
Here is more information if you can foster through AHS, AAWL and the county.
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