'A crisis situation': More pets being surrendered in Winnipeg

Animal organizations in Winnipeg say they’re seeing a continued increase in dogs and other pets being surrendered at their facilities.

Leland Gordon, the general manager of the city’s animal services, says they’re currently seeing between 30 and 35 dogs in its facility daily, whereas previously, they would usually see 20.

“It’s not sustainable,” he said.

Gordon said they’ve been seeing more dogs left as strays, and speculates inflation and people not being able to afford their pets anymore is a reason for the increase.

“Some of those people unfortunately, have gone out and gotten a dog and now they're struggling caring for the dog,” he said. "Almost every dog that comes into Animal Services as a stray is not spayed and neutered, it's not licensed, not vaccinated, no training, nothing's been done on the dog. And I think sometimes when people have gotten dogs, you know, if they have a problem, like a behaviour issue, you know, they're not going out, and spending money and hiring a trainer. And so, I think a handful of these dogs are being let go in the community as strays and they make their way to Animal Services. And then they just don't get recovered.”

Jessica Miller, CEO of the Winnipeg Humane Society, says they’ve also seen an influx of animals. She said they currently have more than 300 animals in-house at their facilities, along with 210 in foster care.

“We’ve been in a bit of a crisis situation for quite a while now,” she said, noting the high number of animals can lead to stress not only for them, but for the staff as well.

Miller added that the organization has been tracking the reasons people have been surrendering animals, with the top four being having too many animals, not wanting the animal anymore, behaviour issues, and financially not being able to care for the animal.

Both Miller and Gordon said people need to ensure they can care for an animal before they purchase or adopt.

“Before you think about adding a dog to your family, make sure you can financially care for yourself, and you have a stable home because there are significant additional expenses in regard to caring for a dog,” Gordon said.

“There just needs to be a lot more planning,” Miller said. “We know that people were adopting like crazy during COVID. And that was great. They were home. You know, but we were also we also had animals at home before COVID. And they were able to stay by themselves for a longer period of time. You know, animals sleep during the day too, so they don't need you home 100% of the time to have success in the home.

“If you can preplan to have a little piggy bank saved for any extraordinary costs that your animal may incur in terms of, you know, an extraordinary medical issue or just basic primary care, that should be done to ensure the health of your animals.”

Miller said the humane society is also looking for more people to be fosters to help alleviate the numbers.

-With files from CTV’s Kayla Rosen