Caught by the throat of veterinary costs and increasingly high food costs, many small shelters and domestic animal aid organizations are forced to reduce their activities. In debt, some fear they will soon have to put an end to it, while demand is more pressing than ever.
“I am bombarded with messages. For dropouts in Quebec, this is the worst year. Overpopulation seems irreparable. We are all discouraged,” says Nancy-Ann Michaud, founder of the Kitty-Kat Rescue shelter in Montreal, on the phone.
Like several other leaders of similar organizations, Mme Michaud takes care of pets in distress, many of whom are in bad shape. She comes to the rescue when people find stray cats. She also does business with veterinary clinics, whose clients have abandoned their felines at home, often because they could not afford to pay for necessary care.
The little creatures are placed with more than thirty foster families. All care and food costs are covered by the animal health technician’s organization. Little “tortoiseshell” Iris, for example, who was found outside at just a few weeks old with two broken legs, requiring more than $5,400 for amputation and repair. This does not include the costs of vaccines and sterilization.
Not receiving any subsidies, the Kitty-Kat Rescue shelter regularly conducts fundraising campaigns to save these cats. Adoptions, at $300, help offset expenses. But costs have jumped in the last year, so much so that the organization is now operating at a loss.
“It’s been several times this year that my clinic has increased costs without notice,” she says, judging that her veterinarian remains one of the most affordable in Montreal.
Mme Michaud believes that the increase for certain quality food brands is “out of control”.
Getting into debt for the cause
Even if she had around fifteen fewer treatments, Mme Michaud accumulated $14,000 in debt in one year. She does not believe she will be able to continue this voluntary work if the bank account does not return to zero by the beginning of 2024.
A volunteer for the Patrichats organization, Dominique Dupuis makes all the same observations. She believes that more and more pet owners are abandoning them because they no longer have the means, with the rising cost of living, to pay for such expensive care.
“During the pandemic, people adopted a lot of animals. As veterinarians have a surplus of clients, they have been able to increase prices as they wish,” analyzes Mme Dupuis.
However, adoptions and fundraising campaigns do not produce the expected results. “We have lots of really wonderful cats who can’t find adopters,” she says, deploring the lack of visibility of small shelters like hers. In all, 45 of his protégés are currently waiting for a new home.
While the shelter has accumulated a debt of $25,000, its team is also considering closing if it cannot raise enough donations soon.
$17,000 for a rescue
The picture is similar at Les Aristopattes, which this year had to reduce the number of rescues of injured or sick dogs and cats. Its managers see increases of around 20% in one year for veterinary care. One of their first cases of the year, a cat with a foreign body obstructing its intestine, cost them $17,000 due to various complications.
“Saving lives is priceless, but we don’t want to go into debt,” said Andrea Pedroza, director of communications for the Montreal organization.
Leeann Lafond, founder of the Shelter of Hope for orphaned stray kittens in Gatineau, faces the same explosive cocktail.
“I have to take quality food, because the first twelve weeks of their nutrition are super important. But it is practically no longer buyable,” estimates the one which has also been operating at a loss since 2022.
She estimates that $750 is now on average needed to care for a kitten until adoption, including spaying and microchipping.
For all these animal lovers, it is increasingly difficult to witness a lot of animal suffering without having the means to alleviate it.