Calgary pet owners give up animals amid economic woes

The Calgary Humane Society says the number of pets surrendered by people who can't afford them anymore has tripled since last year.

Since January, the non-profit group has seen a spike in the cats, dogs, birds, rabbits and even a lizard given up by emotional pet owners.

"They're devastated. This is a heartbreaking circumstance for them," said Lindsay Jones, a spokeswoman for the humane society.

"They've maybe lost their job, lost their home and they just don't have anywhere to care for their pets anymore. Or, on occasion, it's been the pet has come into some medical bills that they need to go under, and these people can't afford it."

Jones showed off Shadow, an eight-year-old dog who was surrendered because his owner couldn't afford him anymore.

While some pets are left at the humane society, others are abandoned in the city, like a Shih Tzu found walking on the side of a road two months ago. She had a collar but no other ID. Two days after being taken in by animal control, she gave birth.

"In some cases, people just don't want the dog anymore or just aren't interested in having the dog back," said Bill Bruce, Calgary's head of animal and bylaw services. "In some cases,… dogs have been left in parks and open space and abandoned because they are no longer wanted."

The lack of a collar or ID makes it obvious the pet is abandoned, Bruce said.

"The first clue is nobody's looking for it," he added. So far this year, 150 dogs have gone unclaimed.

Bruce said there's an alarming number of abandoned purebred dogs, but it's usually easy to adopt them and puppies out. Mixed breeds stay in the city kennel for about three months on average before a new home is found for them.

"It's amazing how many dogs. You can go in that back kennel and you just give it a sit command and immediately it sits, so you know it has had some socialization and some training. It's been in a home."

Bruce speculated that the fear of being judged, or the mistaken belief that they'll have to pay a fee for surrendering an animal, leads people to abandon their pets.

"But we do encourage people, if you cannot handle the dog, and you cannot find a home for it, call the humane society."

However, the influx of pets is putting pressure on the humane society.

"Resources are pretty strained right now. We have high intake numbers, yet our donations are down," Jones said.

She said adoptions have remained steady, but if the shelter gets too full, they will have to look at putting animals down.

"They have a certain amount of time that they are up for adoption before we have to euthanize them," Jones said.