The Lethbridge Animal Shelter is no longer accepting new animals after rescuing two adult dogs and six puppies last week.
Director of Services and Enforcement, Skylar Plourde says, over several days the city department saw a significant number of stray animals brought in that were not claimed, several of which officials believed were intentionally abandoned.
Plourde says this is not the first time the department has found itself in this position over the past couple of years, most recently having to suspend intake back in August. Plourde explains the Lethbridge Animal Shelter facility is set up for most animals to have a short-term stay area; however, recently, they have seen an increase in the number of animals who need long-term care.
“We are in a desperate situation on finding an appropriate place for these animals to go, so they can be helped and we can continue to do our job of responding to stray animal complaints and make sure we have appropriate space to house lost pets until we can find their owners,” Plourde says.
He explains that across southern Alberta, rescue resources are already stretched to capacity, which creates a struggle of where to send dogs who need a rescue environment.
“We are a City of Lethbridge public service as an animal control agency, first and foremost, so obviously we are not meant to be a rescue. Our facility is fully staffed, it is designed and equipped to do what it was built to do in the first place, which again is that temporary housing and short-term stay,” he says. “When the facility is full it is draining those [resources] very quickly and we can’t continue to do the work because there is nowhere to bring stray animals in, they just have to stay on the street.”
Plourde adds that it can be mentally draining on the staff. He explains it can be exhausting dealing with a full facility, especially when the animals are difficult to handle and move. These animals need additional time to be worked with and, as a result, not a lot of progress is seen in crowded rescues.
“The best situation to deal with at this point is these dogs going into a rescue organization that might specialize in dogs that have been neglected and abused and will require long-term rehabilitation. They can coordinate foster homes, where these dogs can recover for however long they need and then eventually be adopted.”
“We can’t facilitate that, that is just not within our mandate, not within our available resources to do that long-term care and fostering.”
Plourde says in the past, Animal Community Services has been able to lean on these organizations but, since the pandemic, this has been a struggle with groups across the province seeing an increase in the number of animals they are taking care of, while adoptions have seen a decline. As a result, these services and partnerships are no longer available for the city department, which has caused a “domino effect” with animals having to stay at the shelter for the long term.
