Several Connecticut towns are facing a crisis as the number of abandoned pets surges.
Karen Annis, president of the Meriden Humane Society Board of Directors, is calling the situation “brutal” and even “unprecedented” after 85 cats and dogs have entered the no-kill animal shelter since June 1. That’s a major uptick from the 59 cats and dogs that entered the shelter over the same time period last year, according to Annis.
“We are operating at full capacity right now,” Annis said. “It’s been an uptick over the past several months to a year and it’s gotten progressively worse. It has reached such a fever pitch that we’re having a difficult time keeping up. Our budget hasn’t had that much of an uptick to handle 30 more animals in a two month period.”
The shelter posted on Sunday that they took in a dozen cats and dogs over a 48 hour period, a record for the shelter that was founded in Meriden in 1893. The shelter has capacity for 82 cats and 16 dogs, according to Annis.
“Rescuers are really leaving the field, it’s creating really a passion fatigue epidemic and burnout,” Annis said. “There’s a sense from a lot of rescuers that they can’t keep up and it takes an emotional toll on people who do this work. We’re at a very critical time in animal welfare.”
Meriden is not alone in seeing a dramatic rise in abandoned pets. In Hartford, animal control officer Sherry DeGenova said the situation is untenable.
“It’s really bad right now, this is usually a slow time for me, but I’ve been slammed all summer long,” DeGenova said. “People are leaving their dogs all over and especially in the parks. But it’s not just here in Hartford, it’s all over the state. Shelters are full, rescues are full and people don’t know what to do so they’re dumping their dogs and cats.”
DeGenova, the only animal control officer in the city, said that she has picked up 30 dogs in Hartford this month already. The city’s shelter has enough room for 22 dogs and last week she was almost near-capacity with 17 dogs being sheltered. Several of them come in with injuries or untreated medical issues that require costly surgeries or medicines.
“Thankfully some of them have been recently adopted,” DeGenova said. “But it is like the 1990s all over again here, back when dumping was a really big problem. I mean it has gotten so crazy right now.”
DeGenova said that some of the dogs that have been dumped are not people friendly and she has had to euthanize them because they are too aggressive. Other cases of animal abuse are turned over to the police.
“I don’t hide behind the fact that I do have to euthanize sometimes,” DeGenova said. “If a dog is aggressive towards people or really sick, I will not have a dog live in a cage forever. No animal should be in lockup forever. Those are for people who commit crimes, not for animals.”
Desmond’s Army, a Connecticut-based animal law advocacy group that provides rewards for information leading to the identification of anyone responsible for crimes against an animal, has over $75,000 in outstanding rewards for animal cruelty and abandonment cases, according to the group. Desmond’s Army President Zilla Cannamela said that abandoning a dog is a crime under state statutes on animal cruelty.
“It’s horrific, we’re in crisis mode,” Cannamela said. “We are seeing four or five animals dumped on the streets in one day. It’s ridiculous and the amount of money in rewards for different cases is an exorbitant amount. It should not be anywhere near that high.”
North of Hartford, Avon Animal Control Officer Angela Grano said that two dogs were dumped and thrown out of a car on Tuesday. She called the incident a crime and said charges will most likely be filed. Grano said exotic animals are also being dumped in Avon, including two guinea pigs during last week’s brutal heat wave.
“I think we’re seeing the results of a disgusting industry with no background checks and the animals are really suffering,” Grano said. “What astounds me is there are so many resources to bring an animal somewhere safe and there are so many ways to get help for an animal. But this is what some people still do.”
“I don’t know if there’s a bit of guilt or shame around it and people want to stay in the shadows, but it’s really such an unfair way of releasing an animal.”
What’s causing the uptick?
Some are blaming the increase in cases on the rising costs of owning a pet in Connecticut. Routine veterinary checkups can cost several hundreds of dollars and a spay or neuter can cost between $300 and $500, according to DeGenova. In addition, medicines can cost hundreds of dollars per month. Dog and cat food, littler, and pet-sitter costs also add to expenses for many already financially strapped pet owners.
“Everything is expensive today and we’re seeing people not be able to afford basic care,” DeGenova said. “People are also moving and a lot of landlords don’t allow pets, so instead of dealing with their problem, they toss their pets away.”
Cannamela with Desmond’s Army said that because costs have risen so much, the pet market has dried up. Many breeders are no longer able to sell their dogs or cats and end up dumping them on the streets.
“Backyard breeders are pumping out dogs but there’s no market for it,” Cannamela said. “Thank God there’s no market for it anymore. But they are dumping their animals as well. We have a case of a breeder … where dogs have been found in the woods.”
But DeGenova and Cannamela said that a big contributing factor may be rescues bringing dogs from outside of the state into CT. They said that while some rescues may mean well, they are actually contributing to the problem.
“There’s so many rescues that are bringing up dogs from out of state and then they become our strays,” DeGenova said. “One of my own personal dogs that I found on Enfield Street in Hartford actually came from Mississippi. I did a DNA test on him and his blood line was from the South with ancestry in Mississippi. So that means some organization brought him up north and he ended up on the streets of Hartford. I would urge rescues to first help dogs here in our state.”
Advocates say that pet owners should plan and prepare for pet costs ahead of time. If owning a pet is no longer an option, pets should be dropped off at shelters that can help provide for them. Several private rescues also take in dogs and cats when towns are at capacity.
“I can’t understand why someone would dump their pets, because my animals are my family, and I would live in a box before I dumped them,” Cannamela said. “Or I would make sure they were placed in a responsible home or a foster or rescue. The mindset someone has to be in to dump an animal is mind-boggling.”
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com
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