Cochrane animal shelter concerned dogs are staying longer as adoptions slow down

After nearly two years, the Cochrane & Area Humane Society has found a forever home for its longest furry resident, Paddy. But the animal shelter and some other kennels in southern Alberta are concerned that dogs are staying longer as adoptions slow down.

The society found a home for Paddy after a video highlighting her long stay at the shelter went viral. Paddy was originally adopted as a puppy from the society but was later surrendered back.

"Of course, we all grew to love Paddy very much," said Rachel Harper, who supervises the society's animal care department. "It was just so wonderful seeing her finally move on to her forever home."

But Paddy's long stay ties into a concerning trend that Harper and the shelter have noticed over the past few years. In 2020, the shelter's average length of stay for a dog was 30 days. Now, it's more than 60 days.

"We have a few [dogs] that we've had for over a year or so," Harper said. "I think things have really slowed down as far as dog adoptions."

Ashley Marie Derrington, who volunteers with the Pawsitive Match Rescue Foundation based in Calgary, also said adoptions are slowing down. Some dogs have been in Pawsitive's care for more than a thousand days.

"We used to find that when we would have small dogs, they would get adopted quite quickly, and that definitely seems to be not the case so much anymore," Derrington said. 

While they see the longer waits as widespread across dogs of all ages, Derrington and Harper said there are some patterns with dogs that stay longer at their shelters. Both mentioned that dogs with black fur or behavioural issues end up staying longer.

"It's a big ask for somebody to take on a dog that's more fearful, more timid," Harper said.

"The longer they stay in the shelter, the more we can see their behaviour sort of decline because they don't have as much engagement with people and it can be really hard on them," Harper added.

"It's kind of a vicious cycle."

Derrington said Pawsitive is mostly a foster-based rescue organization, so the shelter is a holding facility and animals spend time with foster families. 

Likewise, Harper said the Cochrane & Area Humane Society tries to get animals into foster homes and "give them a break from the shelter because it's really hard on them to stay kennelled for so long."

High volume of surrendered pets

Other shelters that aren't reporting longer stays still say the sheer volume of animals they're receiving is a major concern.

"The amount of animals that need our help is staggering," said Anna-Lee Fitzsimmons, director of public relations for the Calgary Humane Society. "We always have hundreds of animals on a waitlist now. And that was unheard of before 2020."

Fitzsimmons attributed some of that growth as a consequence of the high demand for pet adoptions during the pandemic and noted there was "a lot of support for breeders" at the time.

"When you adopt an animal through a breeder, there are good breeders out there, but there's also backyard breeders, and a lot of those animals are going home not spayed and not neutered," Fitzsimmons said. 

Harper said the Cochrane & Area Humane Society has a waitlist for people looking to surrender animals, which creates a "stalemate" where "for every dog that gets adopted, there's 10 people waiting to fill that kennel with their dog that they're no longer able to keep."

Derrington and Harper both said the high cost of living and rising costs of animal food and veterinary care are reasons why adoptions have slowed down and the numbers of pets being surrendered to shelters have gone up.

Harper also highlighted the challenge of finding pet-friendly housing, which she said is a "really serious issue in Alberta and probably across the country."

She said more assistance for pet owners could help resolve the problem, including governments encouraging more pet-friendly housing and having supports in place for low-income pet owners so they don't feel the need to surrender their animals when finances are an issue.

 "My message [to the public] would just be to support your local shelter, whether that's adopting, fostering or donating," Harper said. "Every little bit helps."