Most of the people working in shelters today are not the same as the ones who were there at the onset of the pandemic. You can’t read the news today without hearing about how people are struggling with housing loss, mental health, increased work pressure, and all the other impacts of covid. They saw hope for a better future in which more pets could be helped in their communities. As this reportfrom shelter animals count shows, more animals are entering animal shelters than are leaving, sustaining an imbalance in the system. Beyond the obvious adoption services and foster programs, cat shelters provide a safe home for stray, abandoned, or surrendered cats who have nowhere else to go. During the pandemic, animal shelters experienced a period of relief from the relentless ‘hamster wheel’ of intake, care, outcomes, and repeat. The struggle is fairly simple, but it plays out within the landscape of relationships among the public , government officials, volunteers, advocates, shelter workers, and the pets themselves. Are overcrowded shelters a dog problem or a cat problem? They began building a new foundation to provide medical support, housing advocacy, crisis boarding, and reunificatio. In practical terms, this m. If we looked at the total number of pets nationwide at any given time against the number of kennels and foster homes available at any given time,. Learn what’s behind the overcrowding crisis and how your actions can save lives. For example, one shelter that takes in 20,000 pets has an operating budget of just over $3 million dolla. Thousands of healthy, friendly pets are waiting in shelters for days, weeks, and even months awaiting routine medical care that will make them adoption-ready. The disparity among various shelters, both in terms of resources and the number of pets entering the municipal or government-contracted shelter , existed long before the pandemic, but its effects have been exacerbated over the past several years. Do communities need a low-cost spay/neuter? · you may have seen your local shelters crying out for adoptions and assistance from their community amid overcapacity. · at stake is not just the fate of friendly, adoptable cats being released back into the streets—but a precedent that could alter the balance between humane care, public safety, and animal welfare in shelters across the country. Even in times of great challenges, animal shelters have a responsibility to engage the public , communicate the why, hear public feedback, and invite volunteers. Luckily, many organizations are allowing pets to go to fost. The pressure to provide excellent or at. In many communities stray animal numbers are up, and with fewer low-cost vet clinics available, more pet owners are giving up animals they can’t afford to care for. Shelters are balancing intake, basic care standards, and live outcomes in the midst of staffing shortages and turnover. Cat shelters are the cornerstone of the cat community. · families forced to move due to rising rent or eviction are surrendering beloved pets because they can’t find pet-friendly housing. While some shelters have responded to the crush by adding more capacity, advocates believe a long-term solution has to confront the reasons why shelters are resorting to housing animals in their offices. See full list on outcomesforpets. com · shelters are full, adoptions are down, and resources are stretched thin. Leaving a bad review for a cat shelter is one of the pettiest things you can do. In some cases, animal shelters are making the problem worse. As crates and kennels overflow with resources stretched thin, dedicated staff and volunteers are struggling to keep up with the influx of homeless pets. In many places, shelters are ‘euthanizing for space’ daily or weekly due to critical capacity while hundreds of kennels sit empty in others. Are big dogs staying in shelters longer? Because of high turnover rates at all levels of shelter professionals, the majority of people leading and working in shelters today started during a time when intake was historically low, which means the intense pressure and speed. Pets are also unequally distributed among shelters and regions. People’s likes are more precarious than before the pandemic. There is a national shortage of veterinarians, which means getting pets spayed or neutered and ready for adoption is taking longer. One of the less understood reasons for pet surrender is that many people surrender pets because they are overwhelmed. In other words, the process of moving animals through the system from intake to care to outcomes has slowed down, meaning pets are stuck in shelters for longer periods of time. This happens when they self-impose arbitrary barriers to outcomes like home visits, vet checks, and landlord checks for adoption.

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