Animal shelters never have a shortage of work to do, and the Pembina Valley Humane Society (PVHS) based in Morden is no exception.
Jennifer Young, who has been the shelter manager at PVHS for approximately two years now, says the organization has reached a bittersweet milestone — its 200th intake of the year. Not only does the number break a ten-year record, but it does so with four months still left in 2024.
The causes for the high intake number are both positive and not so positive.
“[The intake number is due] to different things changing within the shelter. Our foster program has grown, so with that, we're able to take in more animals,” says Young. “The unfortunate part is the need to take in more animals. It comes down to, of course, spaying and neutering your pets so that we don't see this influx of need, but we're lucky and grateful to our community and our fosters that enable us to be able to help all these animals.”
Fortunately, the figure does not reflect the total number of animals currently in the shelter. It includes animals that have already been adopted this year.
“Because we have animals that have been adopted [and] we have animals that have been able to be put into foster [care], we have the ability to take in more,” says Young.
Even so, the number of animals that find their way to shelter is a challenge for the PVHS, especially during its cat freeze.
"It is just overwhelming how many people want to surrender their animals and how many [animals] have shown up at the pound that we've been able to take in as well,” says Young. “We probably would have seen more than 200 this year already if we were not on an intake freeze for cats. We're still dealing with ringworm in our quarantine room, so we haven't been able to take in any more cats for about two months now. We would probably have seen maybe about 15 to 20 more intakes if we had that room available.”
Young says that since taking her position as shelter manager at PVHS, she is “blown away” by the number of animals that have been recovered or surrendered in the area.
“Whether it's cats or dogs, we see them . . . stranded, people are finding them just wandering the streets, on the highways, and we're getting a lot of people as well that are calling to surrender,” she says. “Because we have such a long waiting list with so many people wanting to surrender, we can't necessarily take them in immediately, and so these people don't have very many alternatives. It's unfortunate that there's just so many.”
Young says that when it comes to owners who need to surrender their pets, certain factors appear consistently.
“It's a mixture of things, but a lot of what we've noticed lately is that [owners are] unable to care for them. That could just be a change in circumstances — they're moving, [and] they're not allowed to have pets in their new home. There are a lot of rentals that are not pet friendly, so we're seeing that a lot of people can't bring their pets with them,” she says. “Many times, it is finances. They just cannot afford to take care of the vet bills, food, and everything that is required to take care of an animal.”
According to Young, changes in family dynamics — such as the arrival of a baby or shifting living arrangements — also result in surrenders. While many of these factors are difficult to anticipate, it’s important for anyone contemplating pet ownership to weigh the likelihood of these events before they adopt.
The high intake numbers translate to high spending for PVHS. Young says that its partnership with the Winkler and Morden Vet Clinic reduces the care costs of the animals in its charge, but even so, each animal generates about $200 in fees.
“That doesn't even include any of the special cases that we've seen that require some surgeries, or [things like] broken legs or dental extractions,” she says. “When we bring an animal in, we do an initial intake check. But then we do the vaccines, we do deworming, we do flea and tick treatment, and then there's, of course, the spay and neuter cost. We will not adopt them out until they've been spayed or neutered.”
Young says that some animals also require medications, too. There are non-veterinary requirements like litter, litter boxes, and food as well.
“There are more things that we would love to have to just see the animals be a little bit more comfortable here as much as possible,” says Young. “The more we take in, the higher the cost. This doesn't mean that we're going to stop taking in any animals. It just means that we do require some help from the community, whether it's donations of food, litter, supplies, cash donations, [or] fosters. It is so helpful, and it is appreciated that we do have such a great community right now. They're so generous. It isn't easy for us to ask for more from them, but because it's for the animals, I don't think I'm going to stop anytime soon.”
While the record-breaking intake this year has its positive and negative angles, the animals themselves always continue to charm. Pembina Valley Humane Society’s 200th intake, a little white female cat missing a piece of one of her ears, played the role of mascot in one of the society’s fundraising efforts. Anyone with a name suggestion was invited to enter their submission along with a donation for the PVHS. The winning name was posted online and presented to PVHS’ record-breaking (and endlessly soft) addition.
To donate supplies or funds to the Pembina Valley Humane Society’s mission of protecting the animals in the region, see its website here.
~With files from Robyn Wiebe~