Pandemic-era puppies, kittens now filling San Francisco shelters beyond capacity
The COVID-19 pandemic is still having a deadly effect on the pet population. The number of unwanted animals is straining San Francisco's shelter capacity to the breaking point, sometimes with tragic results.
Just about every animal shelter in the state is jammed these days and it all points back to the pandemic when shelters were empty and it was hard to find any animal to adopt, as people tried to cope with COVID isolation.
But also at that time, spaying and neutering were suspended or drastically reduced. And now those generations of puppies and kittens are filling the shelters.
"So, not just in San Francisco, but in California and nationwide, we are like two million spay/neuters behind. So, that just leads to more and more accidental breeding," said Virginia Donohue, Executive Director of San Francisco's Animal Care and Control. "Pre-pandemic, we were full a couple times a year. Now we're full a couple times a month. It is a constant problem. It's no longer an occasional problem."
And it can have heartbreaking consequences. SF Animal Care and Control works to find unwanted pets a home, but when none is available, they must turn to euthanasia to make room.
"We try very hard to euthanize just for medical and behavior issues," said Donohue. "But there are points when an animal is here too long and nobody is coming for it, we don't have a place for it to go and its behavior is deteriorating. Then we're going to euthanasia."
One of the reasons the city's public animal shelter is so full is because its major adoption partner, the San Francisco SPCA, is taking a lot fewer dogs and cats than it used to. The SF SPCA, which is a private entity, has joined forces with the Stockton SPCA and is now rescuing a lot more unwanted pets from the Central Valley.
"Historically, they've taken as many as 600 dogs," said SF's Donohue. "Currently, it's under 200. So, obviously, that's a pain point."
It's also a reason why Animal Care and Control is having to turn to euthanasia.
Another is that the shelter has a "custody" program that holds dogs up to two weeks for people who go to jail or the hospital or who die. That all takes space from those pets looking to be adopted.
On Saturday, a dog owner named Ethan said he sometimes wonders where they're all coming from.
"To see the amount of people out there that have dogs that aren't taking care of them, like, I don't really understand how they got these dogs in the first place," he said.
The dogs are out there, many in desperate need of a caring home. But there is only so much space in the shelters and reducing the population is now more than just a humane thing to do. It's becoming a matter of life and death.
"I mean, don't get a dog if you weren't intending to get a dog," Donohue said. "But if you want a dog, just look at your local shelter first. Even if you don't find the dog of your dreams there, just look and see what's available."
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