“Veterinarians also play an important role”

He moves energetically behind the bars of his box to welcome Ninon and the treats that fill his hands. Largo, a 5-year-old Jack Russel, was brought back to the Plaisir refuge in the Yvelines a week ago. He had been adopted there when he was still a small puppy.

“The person did not accustom him to supporting absence and after a while began to leave him alone since she went back to work, says the manager of the shelter. The dog not understanding and not having had the progressive acclimatization to this change, could not bear a second of absence.

For Ninon, the situation is symptomatic: according to her, the main reason for abandonment lies in the lack of education on the part of the masters who often choose the time of the long holidays to part with their animal. “For two years, we have been a little bit protected because of the Covid, that is to say that adoptions did not drop sharply in the summer, contrary to what usually happened.”

“In 2022, we are going back to the usual rhythm, with June and July which were very low in adoptions and despite everything a massive demand for abandonments.”

Ninon Rueff, shelter manager

at franceinfo

Each year, more than 100,000 animals are abandoned in France, each time with a peak during the summer period. According to the Humane Society, 12,000 abandonments have been counted since the beginning of the summer and its 63 shelters are saturated. This year, the phenomenon is further aggravated by inflation, the abandonment of dogs is up by 6%. And if, overall, abandonments are fewer than usual, the rare adoptions explain the saturation of shelters.

As a result, at the Plaisir refuge, the reception capacities are full with 100 dogs and 200 cats on site. Angélique is an animal agent, she is one of the twenty people who run it on a daily basis. The summer heat adds difficulty to the period. “With the heat, we adapt. We have swimming pools, we make ice cubes for them, we wet the walls as much as possible to keep them cool, but it’s a very complicated period”she explains.

Beyond the summer period, the sometimes high cost of animal care provides another explanation, according to Stéphane Lamart, president of the association of the same name for the defense of animals. He denounces often prohibitive veterinary costs, which tend to increase each year. “Veterinarians also play an important role for animals, animal protection and adopters. “

Sterilizing a cat is 300€, a female dog 500 to 600€, that’s very expensive for a household.

Stéphane Lamart, president of an association for the defense of animal rights

at franceinfo

The president of the association is campaigning for the sterilization of pets to be tax deductible in order to avoid their overbirth and therefore to protect them. A particularly useful sterilization for cats, since in four years, a couple of cats can have an offspring of 20,000 individuals. A cat can indeed have from six months, four to eight kittens per litter which will reproduce in turn etc. This explains this figure, at first sight astronomical.