Vacationing owners and the recession result in kennels being filled to capacityCALGARY, August 12, 2009 ~ A story published in today's Calgary Herald revealed that Calgary's two largest animal shelters are in crisis.
The City's shelter is getting close to capacity, with 70 cats and 44 dogs waiting to be claimed by their owners or be adopted into new homes.
Similarly, the Calgary Humane Society is overrun with 484 cats and 95 dogs.
"We always get a bit of a spike in our numbers in August," said Bill Bruce, The City's director of Animal & Bylaw Services. "But it's our return-to-owner statistics that really slump out on us because of [the fact that people are on] vacations. We have trouble reaching the owners to let them know their pet is here. At some point--after 10 to 14 days of trying to reach them and getting no response to our calls -- we have to act in the animal's best interests, which is not to keep it languishing in a shelter forever and it gets adopted."
"[Capacity] is usually high this time of year," said Calgary Humane Society spokeswoman Pamela Amos, noting it is kitten season so some owners are surrendering the mother cat and her entire litter. The shelter has also noticed an increasing number of owners turning over their pets due to the recession.
Local Service Providers: City of Calgary Animal & Bylaw Services, Calgary Humane Society
