The dizzying rise in animal abandonment of all kinds is a “hard comeback” for shelters, now that the frenzy of pandemic adoption has passed.
“The number of abandoned animals is impressive, it’s really disturbing. We have never known that … ”, laments Leattytia Badibanga, founder of a group of Quebec ethical shelters, Les Pattes Jaunes.
The latter experienced a certain lull during the health crisis, when the craze for pets was at its peak. But now they are simply overwhelmed.
Since the start of the year, the 24 member establishments of the organization have had to transfer 400 cats to Ontario, four times more than before the pandemic. And 35% of the dogs they put up for adoption were born in breeders in 2020, before being abandoned.
“Last year, it was completely out of the ordinary. There was a drop in dropouts and people lined up almost every day to adopt, explains for his part the general manager of the Quebec SPA, Félix Tremblay. Now we are experiencing a hard return to reality. “
But what he hadn’t seen coming was the impressive number of rabbits he must have collected in the past few weeks. This year, the Quebec City SPA welcomed around 300, compared to around a hundred in 2019.
“People turned to rabbits because there was a shortage of cats and dogs to adopt. And there they realize that [les lapins] do not have the behavior they wanted, ”explains Tremblay.
An opinion shared by Nancy Lachance, who founded Adoption rabbits without shelter (ALSA) 14 years ago, for whom it is a record year in terms of abandonment.
“I receive between 20 and 25 requests from individuals per week, not to mention shelters and SPAs across the province. We’re out of space, ”she said.
“Shocking”
In either case, several stakeholders had sounded the alarm several months ago.
The hasty adoption of a pet without thinking about its needs and the return to normal postpandemic are the cause for many. But the animal “factories” which took advantage of the situation to abuse the reproduction of their females are just as responsible, according to Mme Badibanga.
“It’s shocking that this is happening here in Quebec, despite all our awareness messages in recent years,” she pleaded.
The adoption frenzy of the last month quickly faded
Cats transferred to Ontario by Les Pattes Jaunes
- 2019: about 100
- 2020: 250
- 2021: 400
Average waiting time before adopting an animal at the Quebec SPA
- 2020: from 1 h to 2 h
- 2021: from 2 to 7 days