Surrendered pets like Picasso need a home as animal shelter gets crowded
“We have staff that have been here for eight or nine years and they say they can’t ever remember having that number of dogs.”
Tara Jackson, Ottawa Human Society
It was love at first sight.
I don’t know if it was the huge, shiny eyes or the velvety brown ears that got me, but the second I saw Picasso, a miniature dachshund surrendered at the animal shelter recently, I wanted to shove him in my purse and run away.
The owners had surrendered the two-year-old dog because they didn’t have time for him any more, said Ottawa Humane Society spokeswoman Tara Jackson.
“People give up animals for all kinds of reasons,” she said. Moving, a new baby and time crunch are all common causes.
“He’s pretty tolerant,” said the shelter’s temperament assessor Amanda Daoud, picking up Picasso’s paws and holding his muzzle. She predicted that the dog would be approved for adoption shortly and scooped up by some eager family soon after.
Picasso’s not alone.
“A lot of good animals come through here,” Daoud said. “I’ve been here for about a year and I see lots of dogs that have great temperament.”
Animals are coming in faster than they can be adopted out at the OHS these days. Jackson notes that the shelter has more than 600 cats — 324 in the building, with another 327 in foster homes.
“It’s hard to wrap your head around it,” she said. “We typically do see the number of cats go up when the weather turns warm. We have a lot of pregnant cats that give birth here and litters of kittens that come in.”
While kitten season is typical, the recent influx of dogs is out of the ordinary.
“We have staff that have been here for eight or nine years and they say they can’t ever remember having that number of dogs,” she said.
There are 70 dogs in the building. While 69 per cent of dogs that are brought in are claimed, only five per cent of cats are, Jackson said.
Small animals numbers are up, too. With nowhere else to go, cages spill out of the hallway (“the designated small animal area”) into the lobby. As a result of the crowding problem, two birdcages are sitting on six cages of cats in the front hallway. A former storage closet has also been turned into a small animal room.
Animals often find themselves with roommates as shelter staff attempt to double — and sometimes triple — up the furry lodgers whenever possible.
“It’s been a bit of a struggle for staff,” Jackson said. “As soon as we have one animal adopted into a new home, we have two or three to fill the spot,” she said.
It’s one thing to admire the cute doggie in the window. It’s apparently another to commit to one for life. Jackson acknowledges adoption isn’t possible for all people.
“People may not have enough room for a dog or a cat, but maybe they can think about a small animal,” said Jackson.
