Calgary pet rescue concerned by rate of animal abandonment across the province

Across Calgary, pet rescues and other animal organizations are filled to capacity with hundreds of cats and dogs in their care. A growing trend of pets being surrendered and sometimes even abandoned being driven by inflation driving up the costs of things like rent, utilities, and groceries leaving little leftover for furry companions.

Tanaya Jilg, executive director with the Animal Rescue Foundation, says it’s a sad reality.

“We’re typically seeing about seven calls per day from people looking for a place to surrender their cats and dogs,” Jilg explained.

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“We’ve had two dogs tied to our door. One last night, and one two weeks ago was tied around the side of our building to stairs, and we’ve had numerous cats dropped off, left in crates of left in our donation bin.”

While staff are understandably upset, they’re empathetic to why people make the difficult choice to let go of their pets.

“People in our community are really struggling,” said Jilg. “[People] need more resources and support with animals.”

While surrendering an animal to organizations is OK, abandoning animals is a criminal act. According to the Calgary Humane Society, there were 216 cases of animal abandonment in 2023, with 137 occurring in Calgary so far in 2024.

Jilg hopes governments can help stem the flow of animals being abandoned in the province.

“All rescues need more resources,” Jilg said. “There’s no government funding for any rescues in Alberta… so I’d say we definitely need support, and we need tougher animal abandonment laws.”

Investigators are working to track down who abandoned the dogs at ARF, and say if you know of someone who has abandoned or abused a pet, to please contact the Calgary Humane Society’s Animal Protection and Investigation team.

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