Animal rescues in N.S. say they're dealing with 'astronomical' demand for rehoming

A Nova Scotia bird rescue has had to stop accepting new surrenders, as animal rescues in the province deal with increasing demand for their services.

Diane Cooke has been running Privateer Parrot Rescue out of her home in Liverpool since 2000 and currently has about 50 birds in her care.

In the last year, the number of people looking to surrender birds has exploded, Cooke said.

"It has definitely gone through the roof, beyond what we're actually able to accommodate. We have had to turn people away."

Her rescue is just one of a number in the province being overwhelmed by demand for their services, as people facing unstable housing situations and rising veterinary care costs look to rehome their animals.

'People just aren't equipped'

Cooke said she's receiving about five requests a month to rehome birds. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, she would have seen that many in a year.

The increase is partly due to people returning to the office to work, Cooke said, after working from home during the pandemic. Because birds bond closely to their owners, that change has caused some birds to develop behavioural problems. 

"The parrot starts developing almost like separation anxiety and that can lead to a whole bunch of behaviours: feather plucking, screaming, just not happy," she said. "I think some people just aren't equipped to deal with that, and so we did see numbers rise quite dramatically."

But the biggest factor, Cooke said, is people dealing with unstable housing.

"I would say that probably makes up most of our surrenders," she said. 

Birds can be loud and destructive, making them challenging for people who rent. Many materials, like new carpets and new paint, are also toxic to birds, posing problems for people moving to new housing where conditions are beyond their control. 

Privateer Parrot Rescue isn't the only animal rescue seeing the effects of the housing crisis.

Heather Woodin, chief of animal operations with the Nova Scotia SPCA, said in the last year the organization has seen a change in the reasons people are seeking their assistance.

"We have seen a sort of return to pre-pandemic levels, but for a variety of reasons that are vastly different than those previous years."

Housing instability has created an increase in the number of people surrendering animals, she said, while others are giving up their pets because they can't afford veterinary care. 

The demand is particularly high for rehoming dogs, she said, which means the SPCA is having to ask owners to wait while they find space in the shelter.

"That's sort of a constant struggle where it's difficult for people to wait. They have some urgent situations."

Demand increasing throughout province

On the South Shore, an animal rescue said demand has been "astronomical" since the pandemic.

SHAID Tree, an independent animal shelter near Bridgewater, N.S., said they typically have a waitlist in the summer when there are more stray cats, but this year the waitlist has lasted into December. 

Housing issues and the rising cost of veterinary care are both factors, manager Kelly Inglis said.

"Some people leave dying cats outside our gates."

Inglis said there's also been an explosion of feral cats in the area, because shelters are at capacity — and because people can't drop their cats off at shelters, they're abandoning them.

"[Since the spring] we literally get phone calls every single day of people, especially rurally, saying 'this cat has been dropped off at my property.'"

Kathryn Downe, with Safe Haven Animal Rescue, a small rescue that works with cats in the Annapolis Valley, said in the last year the rescue has also seen a huge increase in cats that have been abandoned, and in people looking to rehome their cats, due to the housing crisis. That's because tenants either are being told they can no longer have pets, or their housing has become too expensive and they can't find a new rental with their animal. 

"We're seeing so many more of those situations," she said. "It's absolutely huge."

Downe said this leaves the rescue feeling "frantic" and trying to find ways to create space for the animals that most need support. The rescue has a waitlist from people who reach out months in advance to ask about rehoming their cat, but "they keep having to be deferred because of all these imminent crises that we're facing day in, day out."

"We feel terrible because we're supposed to be the people helping and we just don't have the resources."

'We definitely need to come up with something'

Downe said more spay and neuter clinics would help, as would government action to reduce evictions due to pet ownership. 

Cooke said she'd like to see more regulations for breeding birds, and for organizations like the SPCA to expand their ability to take in birds.

"We definitely need to come up with something. I think [the situation] is out of control."

In the meantime, Cooke said she's focusing on trying to educate the public about the realities of owning an animal as complex and long-lived as a parrot.

"I really do wish that other rescues would do the same, and I think that would be a good start."