Sacramento shelters surge with abandoned animals in past year after COVID slowdown

The number of stray and abandoned animals arriving at Sacramento’s largest public shelters surged in the last year after a pandemic-related lull, according to the latest city and county data.

Officials say more local owners are relinquishing their pets and fewer people are adopting them as inflation and a veterinarian shortage leads to higher care costs. Also, many people didn’t spay or neuter their pets during the pandemic, leading to more puppies and kittens.

Before the pandemic, the number of animals coming into city and county shelters was fairly steady each year, hovering around 23,000 from 2017 through 2019.

When lockdowns occurred, the numbers plummeted, with around 12,000 animals arriving at the shelters. Officials said people were staying at home, looking for companionship and holding their pets close, which reduced the number of strays and owner surrenders. In addition, shelters in Sacramento and elsewhere reported strong demand for adoptions.

“Everybody wanted to adopt a shelter pet,” said Annette Bedsworth, director of the Sacramento County Bradshaw Animal Shelter. “That became a very popular item — to own a shelter pet or even a pet in general.”

In addition, an eviction moratorium gave many people - and their pets - some stability, said Ryan Hinderman, communications manager at Front Street Animal Shelter, which is operated by the city of Sacramento.. When people are forced to move quickly, they often find it hard to find a new place that will take both them and their animals, so they feel forced to give up pets.

As the pandemic faded, more people started going back to the office, leaving less time to hang out with pets. Eviction moratoriums ended, leaving more people vulnerable to losing their housing

How big is the influx of pets to Sacramento-area shelters?

Sacramento city and county shelters took in about 16,800 dogs, cats and other pets in 2022, up by about 5,000, or 40%, from 2020. Also, the city of Elk Grove opened its animal shelter in late 2019. That shelter took in more than 2,000 animals in 2022. Elk Grove previously contracted with Sacramento County to shelter pets.

Veterinary care costs have jumped sharply amid a shortage of doctors. Unable to afford care, some owners are taking their pets to the shelter.

Bedsworth said the wait at her shelter’s intake line is now often up to an hour.

“It’s very common, sadly to say, that they will just come through our front doors in the lobby and just leave the dog there and leave and say they don’t have time to deal with the situation,” she said.

The rising costs of owning a pet may be causing fewer people to decide to adopt one. At Bradshaw Animal Shelter, the equivalent of about 50% of cats and dogs that came in during 2022 were eventually adopted, down from about 57% in 2019.

The shelter has maintained a low euthanasia rate, meaning that many animals are sitting in kennels longer, leaving less room for new arrivals. Bedsworth said the average length of stay for dogs has risen from 14 days in 2019 to 70 days in 2023.

At Front Street Animal Shelter, the equivalent of about 56% of animals arriving at the shelter in 2022 were adopted, compared to 53% in 2019. However, Hinderman said the situation has recently worsened. “Starting in probably October of last year to present, we’ve seen a consistent increase in intake and also, for some of those months at least, a decrease in adoption,” he said.

From October through May, the city shelter took in about 5,800 animals, up by 1,300, or almost 30%, from the same months a year earlier. Adoptions rose by 400, or 16%, over the same period.

How are animal shelter’s handling the increased intake?

Both the city and the county have tried to adapt to the rising numbers by bolstering their foster family programs. Putting cats and dogs with foster families allows them to socialize while freeing up kennel space at the shelter.

The shelters also rely on charities like the SPCA and animal rescue groups to take hundreds of dogs and cats.

Hinderman said he’s worried continued inflation and a possible downturn in the economy will further increase the number of stray and abandoned pets.

“As vet care and food supplies get more expensive, rent gets more expensive, people have to cut back,” he said. “All of those things tend to lead to more animal problems.”

During the pandemic, many people put off or found it hard to spay or neuter their pets, Bedsworth said. Many of those pets are now giving birth.

Bedsworth said that today owners who want to spay and neuter their pets are facing new difficulties due to costs and long wait times.

At one private vet clinic in Sacramento, it costs around $500 to spay or neuter a puppy. The SPCA charges $150 to spay or neuter a dog that weighs less than 20 pounds but the wait time just to schedule an appointment is three to four months.

“Spay and neuter is really truly the answer,” Bedsworth said. “We have a lot of spay-neuter challenges ahead of us again.”