Twin Cities animal shelters at capacity, see uptick in pet surrenders
Animal shelters in the Twin Cities say increasing numbers of pet owners are surrendering their animals.
"We've been seeing an uptick over the last couple years, but really, within the last two to three months, it's been absolutely out of control," said Kerry D'Amato, executive director of Pet Haven Rescue in St. Paul.
D'Amato said on Monday that they're not currently accepting surrendered pets.
"We've had to shut down our surrender application and our surrender line because we are getting so many requests. So we close it and then we try to work through the requests," explained D'Amato. "Once we get through that list, we open it up again, but then we're inundated with requests."
Pet Haven Rescue is foster-based and was supporting nearly 400 animals on Monday, though D'Amato says their normal capacity is around 300.
Minneapolis Animal Care and Control is also seeing a rising number of pet surrenders.
"We're certainly at capacity," said Tony Schendel, director of the Minneapolis group. "Multiple calls a day at least. I would say right now we're out about a month trying to help people find other resources."
MACC is seeing surrender situations that involve multiple animals. Schendel says, along with surrenders, they're also dealing with an influx of animals from hoarding and cruelty cases.
Last week, the Minneapolis group recovered over 30 cats from a single residence.
"We have situations where there's hoarding," said Schendel. "We also have situations where the community is telling us that they can't afford care for their animal."
He explained it's not just medical care causing a strain on owners, the price of pet food and housing instability are playing a role for some, too. D'Amato agrees, saying economic pressures are the driving force behind many of the surrenders to Pet Haven.
"What we're hearing from people mostly is they don't have the resources. They don't have the financial resources," D'Amato said.
The North Minneapolis Pet Resource Center is one of the organizations stepping into the gap. They provide dog and cat food to owners who need help getting by. Some of the food donations are set up at a pet food shelf inside MACC. It's an effort to keep pets and their owners together.
D'Amato and Schendel hope the community can support some of these animals, too, by fostering or volunteering.