Toni Younkin’s phone rings at all hours of the day.
As director of Pet Adoption League, a small-scale animal shelter, Younkin knows people need help even outside of business hours. She starts her day early to feed, socialize and take care of the dogs at her organization’s New Stanton-area facility.
But lately, Younkin has found she no longer has the capacity to handle every request for help. Her facility has room for only six small dogs and six large dogs at one time — and many more pets than that are in crisis.
“I’m getting an average of 15 calls a day from people who want to get rid of their dogs. It is such an increase,” she said. “Dogs they no longer have time for, dogs that need vets, and lot of people are finding dogs just on the sides of the roads.
“It’s a daily struggle for me. It breaks my heart because I have to turn people away. A lot of the shelters are having to do that right now, and it’s sad.”
Pet Adoption League isn’t the only shelter struggling to keep up. The Associated Press reported that, according to Shelter Animals Count, a national database of shelter statistics, U.S. shelter population grew by nearly 250,000 animals in 2023.
Shelter Animals Count estimated that more than 53,000 animals were taken in by shelters in 2023 in Pennsylvania alone.
“Right now, our local animal controls are overwhelmed with the amount of dogs that are being surrendered or being set free to fend for themselves,” Younkin said. “Especially in this weather, it’s horrific.”
Causes of the influx
At Paws Across Pittsburgh in Tarentum, president and founder Jackie Armour has noticed the number of shelter pets rising since shortly after the start of the covid pandemic.
“Once everybody went back to work, there was a huge influx, and now another huge influx,” she said.
Pet owners surrendering their animals to the foster-based Paws Across Pittsburgh cite a variety of reasons. Some have mentioned financial problems. Others have noted issues with housing rules. Still others have been unable to handle their dogs’ behavioral issues — a problem Armour believes might stem from not being able to train or socialize dogs as well during the early parts of covid.
The organization has 110 dogs and 80 cats in foster homes. Shelters in Pittsburgh and as far as West Virginia reach out to Paws Across Pittsburgh to find foster caretakers for animals. The group most recently took in two senior dogs from a shelter in Ohio that were at risk of being euthanized.
Shelter foster requests have increased “enormously,” Armour said.
“We’re just getting so many requests from all of them, to move friendly dogs that really don’t have any issues at all except that they got dumped at the shelter,” she said.
Financial issues are a common reason owners surrender their pets, Younkin said.
“I get phone calls a lot about people who can’t afford to take care of their dogs,” she said. “Right now the economy is bad, so it’s hard for people to afford a dog.”
Even larger shelters like Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh have seen a rising tide of animals coming in.
Michele Frennier, director of marketing, says the organization is at about 80% capacity across two buildings.
Because many people adopted pets over the earlier parts of the pandemic, they may not be in the market for another animal, slowing adoptions, she said.
“It’s not that those pets are coming back, it’s just that there was a high level of adoptions at that time, so there’s less of a pool of new adopters,” she said.
Stricter rules in housing, along with financial struggles, have driven some of the surrenders at the Humane Animal Rescue, Frennier said. Some apartments have rules against pit bulls or dogs of certain sizes, she noted.
“Probably one of the leading reasons as to why people are contacting our pet helpline … has to do with financial challenges,” Frennier said.
Helping pet owners
Shelters increasingly are trying to find ways to help pet owners before they have to give up their companion.
Paws across Pittsburgh, HARP and Pet Adoption League operate their own forms of pet food pantries, offering resources for pet owners who may not be able to afford food or supplies.
“We do try to do our best, but like I said, we’re very small,” Younkin said, noting she also keeps in contact with anyone who adopts a dog from her shelter. “I offer to have a trainer come in, and we make sure they send us updates if they have any problems with anything. We are available to that adopter for a lifetime.”
“I would hate for somebody to give up their family pet because they can’t afford dog food,” Armour said. “We try and help out in those areas where we can.”
Paws across Pittsburgh also runs a Short-term Animal Foster Emergency (SAFE) program, which offers pet owners temporary foster care for their pet if the owner is in a short-term crisis.
“It’s a temporary fostering, like if you have some type of emergency or lose housing temporarily,” Armour said. “We’ve had domestic violence where someone leaves a partner and needs temporary fostering for their pet.”
Frennier isn’t sure when the flood of animals will slow. Impact has been worsened by the fact fewer people spayed and neutered their pets during the early parts of the pandemic.
“Folks maybe got a pet and didn’t have their pet spayed or neutered, or access to spay and neuter may have been challenging,” she said.
Different economic pressures have made things hard, she said, and until the economy and inflation start looking up, shelters may still see issues.
“I think as long as we’re having economic issues, maybe it will not (end),” Armour said. “As much as I hope it resolves fast … I don’t really see that happening.”
Even in the midst of a struggle to keep up, Younkin is proud of her shelter’s work. Workers have found homes for 165 dogs this year — an impressive number for a shelter that can only keep 12 at a time.
This past week, a family adopted a dog for Christmas, which was an emotional moment for Younkin.
“When he (left),” she said, “I started crying because I knew he’s going to be OK now.”
Julia Maruca is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Julia at jmaruca@triblive.com.
