Shelters experience increase in returned rescues, dumped dogs

As inflationary pressures are pinching pocketbooks across the nation, animal shelters across the country are experiencing an increase in rescue animals being returned to their facilities and strays dropped off at shelters by good Samaritans or law enforcement, according to a national organization.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 23 million American households adopted a pet, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). As inflation causes prices to rise, some pet owners have decided they can no longer care for their animal. The American Kennel Club has reported the average cost of raising a dog from puppy to senior will cost an individual between $14,000 and $15,000.

"There have been an excessive amount of well-maintained dogs, which you know they have been family pets that have been abandoned," Dawn Keifer of Perry County (Missouri) Humane Society said. "We know that because they have on nice collars, they are not emaciated, and no one comes to claim them after the stray hold is up."

Most funding for shelters comes from sponsors, fundraising, donations and volunteer hours, making it difficult to provide treatment and food and maintain animals' health with the recent influx in animals at the facilities.

Rochelle Steffen of Mac's Mission in Jackson said the number of abandoned pets lately is the highest she and other workers in animal rescue have seen in recent history.

"The economy sucks for rescues in general, especially on us who rely 100% on donations, volunteers, fosters," Steffen said. "The dumped-dog requests are astronomical, and they are getting horribly injured, neglected when dumped. It is overwhelming to be contacted this much, and it is getting worse each week."

Other factors contributing to owners returning or dumping their pets include behavioral problems or the individual moves to a residence that does not allow animals, Keifer said.

"We've had several animals that need to go to training that have cost us a lot of money. We are talking $2,000 to $3,000 just to get them over some quirkiness that we can actually adopt them and our adoption fees are $175," she explained. "We do all the vetting on them, which is microchip, rabies -- all the vaccines -- and spay and neuter."

The ASPCA website states around 6.3 million animals enter animal shelters nationwide each year and about 810,000 animals who enter shelters as strays are returned to their owners.