“A pet is for life,” those were the words spoken by Heather Mutch, manager of the Bonnyville SPCA, last week as she admitted the town and MD of Bonnyville had a significant problem with owners abandoning their pets.
“Abandoned animals in Bonnyville is definitely a problem and it has been for many years,” Mutch said. “Some people just don't understand what it means to own and raise an animal.”
Since the turn of the year, the SPCA has seen 160 animals pass through its doors – 69 of which are dogs and 91 cats, with Mutch believing a large part of the blame lies with fly-in workers who don't fully commit themselves to their pet.
“Unfortunately we live in a very transient community. People move here for work and think it's a good idea to get a dog or get a cat,” Mutch said. “Then before they know it, work has stopped and they're on the move again. We live in a disposable society and to some of these people animals are considered throw away, so they're left behind to fend for themselves.”
Another part of the issue, according to Mutch, is the fact that pet stores allow anybody to walk in and buy a pet, providing they have the money to pay.
“I can't believe how easy it is for people to buy animals from pet stores or from puppy mills. There should be some real regulations and restrictions in place to protect the animals,” Mutch said. “Ideally, these stores would have a process where they sit down with potential owners, go through an application process and go through what pet ownership is all about, because these pets are relying on you to give them a home and treat them right for the rest of their lives.”
As of mid-July, the SPCA has 23 cats and seven dogs to care for, with Mutch admitting those numbers are surprisingly low considering we're well into summer.
“Usually, summer is our busiest time of the year,” Mutch said. “Obviously we're not just dealing with abandoned pets here. A lot of the time we have animals that have gotten lost, or escaped from their home, so a lot of pets are returned that way once their owners realize. But our adoption numbers, especially for dogs, has been very strong over the past couple of months, so that's definitely a positive.”
The SPCA has a policy in place meaning once a mixed breed animal spends 72 hours on site, they become the shelter's property and the process can begin for putting that animal up for adoption.
When animals are handed over to the SPCA, they go through an initial five-day period of isolation as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of outside diseases. In that five-day period, animals are given the required vaccines and shots and are considered for spay or neuter treatment.
The shelter also provides specialty food for the animals. Mutch said for people wanting to retrieve their animals, they must first go into the town office and pay whatever fines are involved. The municipality is the entity responsible for picking up stray animals and delivering them to the shelter. From there, the SPCA charges a return-to-owner fee, which is $20 for the first day for a dog and $15 for every day after that, and $15 for a cat and $10 for every day after.
Should members of the public find a stray animal and they decide to take it into the shelter, they are asked to make a donation of $50 for dogs and $40 for cats, simply because of the costs involved in taking an animal in.
“I'd love to be able to open the doors and take in every animal for free, but the fact is, until I win lotto max, that just can't happen.” Mutch said. “When these animals come here we feed them, sterilize them and treat them – then we have our regular bills and our overheads like staffing, so we have to get something for every animal to ensure that we're still around five or ten years from now.”
Mutch estimated that monthly costs for the shelter, which includes food for the animals, staff salary, utilities and vet bills sits between $12,000 and $13,000.
Mutch said the SPCA do their best to hold onto animals as long as they possible can, but conceded it's difficult considering they aren't blessed with having a large space for extra kennels. They currently have five spots in their isolation pad and nine adoptable kennels for dogs and 30 cat kennels as well as three loose rooms for cats to roam freely.
As a result, the shelter has partnerships in place with several dog rescue groups in northern Alberta that dogs can be transferred to should they still not have a home after two months of staying at the shelter.
Those groups include the Edmonton Humane Society and a special breed rescue group called Pitbulls For Life, which Mutch said she uses whenever a pitbull or rottweiler is brought to the shelter because of the stereotypes surrounding those breeds.
Mutch said unfortunately there doesn't seem to be many places willing to take cats in at the moment because of the large quantity of cats rescue groups already take care of.
While admitting it's always difficult welcoming an animal into the shelter because of the circumstances surrounding it, Mutch said she actually likes it because she knows the dog will be presented with a second chance to enjoy life.
“This may sound bad, but I actually like it when animals come in here because I know this is where they need to be,” Mutch said. “It is really heart-wrenching knowing there are dogs out there that owners have kicked to the curb so thoughtlessly, but we bring the animals in and give them a shot. We've been here a long time now and I know we need to continue being here, because nobody else is speaking up for or protecting the neglected animals in town.”
