The Victoria Humane Society is currently looking for a second property as they continue to face an unprecedented excess of dogs and cats as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, the shelter is housing about 100 dogs and 200 cats, where on a normal year, they would only carry about 50 of each.
“We have our spay neuter clinic here. But unfortunately, all of our animals go into foster care,” said Penny Stone, executive director of the Humane Society. “The problem with this is people are asking us to take on animals from hoarding cases or whatever, and we don’t know anything about them. So you’re bringing animals in and asking people to take them home without any knowledge of what they’re like.”
A major factor of the overflow other than rising prices on pet food and supplies, she said, is due to people who adopted pets during the pandemic that couldn’t be spayed or neutered, and now that people are going back to work, they surrender their animals.
“The animals that weren’t spayed and neutered, are having babies who are having babies, and it’s gone crazy. It’s spiraled out of control,” she said.
They are now searching for a second property so they can better assess pets and give them the proper care needed before they go to a foster home, however, that has proven to be difficult.
Stone said although they have someone who is willing to donate funds to go towards buying a new property, they would still need a property that could be renovated, doesn’t have close neighbours, and it would need to be zoned as a kennel.
The Humane Society is currently providing spaying and neutering services to remote communities around the island in n effort to stem the flow.
“It’s kind of too little too late. It’s sad that we can’t get this under control. We picked up a Tupperware bucket on the side of the road full of 19 puppies that are only four weeks old the other day, it just is not stopping,” said Stone. “Please spay and neuter your pets. It’s so important.”
To donate to the Victoria Humane Society, visit https://victoriahumanesociety.com/save-animals-everyday/.
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