Scrolling via social media, some feeds are flooded with calls for adopters, volunteers or fosters by native animal shelters and Humane Societies.
And it’s not simply the Wichita-area the place it is occurring; it’s a nationwide concern.
“Everywhere that we talked to was in the exact same boat,” mentioned Laura Kingsley, who’s with Newton’s Caring Hands Humane Society. “We are … overflowing with large dogs.”
Kingsley lately attended a convention with different animal shelter staff who are experiencing the identical drawback.
It’s the identical on the Kansas Humane Society and Wichita Animal Shelter.
“This year’s probably going to be one of the highest years for overall animal intake into both shelters that we’ve ever seen,” Humane Society CEO Emily Hurst mentioned.
There’s a mixture of explanation why shelters are overflowing.
“With an increase on intake, the number of available dogs, people not taking them back, and then the Kansas Humane Society’s overall adoptions are down,” Hurst said.
“On top of our mass overpopulation issue, our community is facing a really stark situation with euthanasia.”
While the Humane Society does euthanize some animals, Hurst mentioned it hasn’t needed to euthanize any resulting from overcrowding – nevertheless it’s laborious to maintain up.
The present points didn’t occur all of a sudden.
“Wichita did have an overpopulation issue prior to the pandemic,” Hurst mentioned, “and it’s getting worse.”
And the pandemic triggered its personal set of issues. Some individuals put off vet clinic appointments for spaying and neutering, inflicting even more animals to be born and contributing to overpopulation.
People additionally weren’t in a position to socialize their animals throughout COVID shutdowns.
“So they come back with extreme undersocializtion issues,” Hurst says, “which can be aggression toward other people, other animals, not knowing how to behave, and that puts them at another high risk of euthanasia.”
The Wichita Animal Shelter is positioned in the identical complicated as the Humane Society, making them pure companions in getting animals from the shelter to the adoption course of. But there are nonetheless animals that find yourself on the shelter after operating away, and fewer homeowners are coming again to assert their animals.
That’s led the animal shelter to supply monetary help to individuals attempting to get their animals again, however who can’t afford the charges related to it.
“Our goal is NOT to keep your animal — we want to get it back home!,” a Facebook put up by the Wichita Police Department mentioned.
Dogs additionally aren’t the one species shelters are having points with.
“It is kitten and cat season right now,” mentioned Kingsley with the Newton shelter. “Usually we kind of have an ebb and flow where we have a lot of dogs and we have a lot of cats — but now we have a lot of both.”
With shelters overflowing, Hurst mentioned they should get artistic with how they appeal to more individuals who need to undertake to their facility — however that comes at a price.
“When we have a $25 adoption event, for example, we lose on average $6,000 per day in potential income to save the next animal’s life,” Hurst mentioned. “So it drastically impacts our ability to continue serving the community.”
Caring Hands additionally continues to supply particular adoption occasions or sponsorships for adoption charges on some canines. But Kingsley mentioned the group’s engaged on a potential outreach program to help individuals in the neighborhood care for the animals they have already got.
“If they never make it in our doors, then they can’t fill up our kennels,” she said.
As always, both shelters are looking for fosters or volunteers to help out at the facilities.
“We are always in need of animal fosters, specifically anybody that can help care for adult dogs,” Hurst mentioned. “That’s one of our biggest needs that we don’t have very many of, but it really [is] every type of animal that you can possibly think of … ”
While shelters battle to resolve their capability issues, they’re lucky that some individuals are nonetheless prepared to undertake, like Lance Courson.
“The gray one I fell in love with,” Courson mentioned, “and my wife said, ‘Not in a million years will we adopt another cat,’ and so I sent her a picture of — we call her Charlee, Charlee Rose — … and so she fell immediately in love with Charlee and she said, ‘Oh my gosh ,I have to have her.’ ”
And so Charlee discovered her without end dwelling.
“She’s an angel,” Courson said. “She’s just like your typical kitten. She has … a ton of energy and she’s just all over the place.
“But man, the Kansas Humane Society, they take care of those pets before they’re allowed to be adopted.”
To view out there pets on the Kansas Humane Society, go to kshumane.org.
To view out there pets at Caring Hands Humane Society (Newton), go to caringhandshs.org.
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