One of several cats available for adoption at the Community Animal Services as of May 5, 2022. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

City encouraging adoption as animal shelters full

May 6, 2022 | 11:31 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Animal shelters across the city have been at or near capacity for some time, prompting officials to urge families to consider adoption.

Skylar Plourde, Director of Services at Community Animal Services in Lethbridge, says this is not isolated to just the city-owned shelter.

“Currently, most rescue groups and animal shelters in the province, and probably all over the country, really, are just kind of at a struggling point. There’s a high demand to intake animals and there seems to be less of a demand to adopt,” says Plourde.

At the Lethbridge Animal Shelter, which is in the process of being rebranded as Community Animal Services, Plourde says they currently have 22 cats and 21 dogs, although those numbers can fluctuate quickly.

He adds that the number of cats is a little high, but nothing out of the ordinary. For dogs, however, this is quite a bit more than they are used to seeing at one time.

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Staff at Community Animal Services noticed an uptick in animals being dropped off around Christmas last year, but things really picked up in March.

The problem, says Plourde, is that the increased availability of animals has not coincided with a higher demand for donations.

“We have, like, puppies here, which used to be — people would be banging down the doors to get to these puppies. We’re not getting any interest in them at all,” he says.

Having too many animals in a shelter at one time can have a few different consequences.

From a medical perspective, Plourde says there is a higher risk of disease spreading throughout the facility, as the animals are in closer quarters with one another and it is more difficult to isolate them.

Some cats and dogs might also suffer from mental health issues such as stress and anxiety due to being in a crowded shelter.

Plourde implores people, however, to not rush out and adopt a pet immediately without considering how it will impact their family’s lives in the long term. He thinks that this kind of thinking is at least partially what got them into this situation in the first place.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lot of talk about these pandemic adoptions and people adopting pets to take it to their home because they weren’t working or they were working from home,” says Plourde. “Right away, there was speculation that all these are all just going to get returned, and they are being returned. You know, it was hard to say at the time what it was going to look like, and this could be the result.”

Instead, he is encouraging families to view adoption as a lifestyle decision, not something to bring short-term happiness or as something that could help to teach their children about responsibility.

Another thing Plourde says to consider is getting your pets spayed or neutered. He believes that many of the problems being seen now with overpopulation could be solved by having fewer puppies and kittens coming into the world.

A list of all pets available for adoption at the city-owned shelter can be found on the Community Animal Services website.

Cindy is available for adoption at Community Animal Services as of May 5, 2022. (Lethbridge News Now)

Chase is available for adoption at Community Animal Services as of May 5, 2022. (Lethbridge News Now)

Hero and Gogo are available for adoption at Community Animal Services as of May 5, 2022. (Lethbridge News Now)