BONNYVILLE – Over 23 years ago, community members saw a significant need to tackle the issue of stray cats and dogs throughout the Bonnyville area. This resulted in the opening of the Bonnyville and District SPCA in 2000, made possible through community support and volunteer hours.
Located on property owned by the Town of Bonnyville, the Bonnyville SPCA has settled into its location and over time has found creative ways to maximize capacity. But as the population of both the Town and MD of Bonnyville continue to grow, pressures on the animal shelter have increased as well, says Judith Rodriguez, the animal shelter’s manager.
A 2001 census shows that just over 15,000 people resided in the Town and MD a year after the animal shelter was constructed. Twenty years later, the population of both municipalities has grown to about 19,300 residents combined.
With more residents comes more family pets – but not all of those animals are spayed or neutered. The animal shelter has felt the impact, and in recent years, has remained close to or at times even over its maximum capacity.
In April, 11 puppies found in a box on the side of a highway were brought to the Bonnyville SPCA. The shelter’s staff juggled their operations to isolate the group of pups while they were being vaccinated, dewormed and tested for Parvovirus.
With its doghouse already full, the Bonnyville SPCA worked with other animal shelters to relocate most of the puppies.
On average, Bonnyville’s animal shelter costs roughly $26,000 per month to operate. These costs include food for the animals, the building’s utilities, large volumes of cleaning supplies, veterinary bills, and the wages of three full-time staff members as well as one part-time employee and a casual kennel attendant.
In the best-case scenario, the adoption fees paid by new pet owners will cover roughly one-third of the costs expended by the non-profit to care for the animal, provide core vaccinations and spay or neuter the animal.
The COVID effect
At the height of lockdown and work-from-home measures during the pandemic, animal shelters saw a surge of pet adoption – now the opposite trend is taking place.
“Unfortunately, yes, after COVID we have a lot of people calling to inquire about pet surrenders,” said Rodriguez.
While some animal shelters in the country have reported that recent surrenders have been increasingly related to cost of living and inflation, the Bonnyville SPCA hasn’t seen the same trend.
“When we ask the reason, it is still the same reasons as before: ‘They are too aggressive,’ ‘I am moving and I can’t bring them with me,’ and now we have the third most regular answer, ‘I don't have time anymore’,” listed Rodriguez.
“We assume it is the people who bought or adopted the dogs through COVID and now they want to get rid of them.”
However, Rodrigez notes that none of the dogs surrendered to the Bonnyville shelter were adopted from them.
“I'm so grateful none of our dogs or cats have come back to us. I want to think it is because we have really strict screening prior to adoption,” she said.
Even without dogs and cats being returned to the shelter, the Bonnyville and District SPCA is overwhelmed with the number of intakes they have received in recent years.
Typically, the shelter would have two or three dogs in its care, but at the end of April 10 dogs were at shelter, not including dogs in foster care. However, this number changes by the day – and by the hour.
There is no saying how each day will unfold, says Rodriguez.
Both partnering municipalities have access to the facility in case a community peace officer receives a report of a lost or stray animal while the SPCA is closed. Because neither municipality has its own pound, the MD and Town each reserve two quarantine kennels at the animal shelter for their own exclusive use.
A large challenge for the shelter is that when strays come in it can take a month or more before they are adopted.
Last year, the month of September saw the largest intake of dogs at 19. That same month the shelter reported no dog adoptions. In January, only one dog was adopted from the shelter.
The two second highest months for dog intakes were February with 16 and August with 14 dogs being brought in.
The months with the highest levels of canine adoptions were just half the number of dogs arriving during peak months. In both July and October of last year, just seven dogs were adopted.
Rodriguez says while it is typical for less dogs to be adopted near the end of winter, it has been an anomaly for the shelter to have so many dogs in care in the first place. “We have had dogs with us since September,” she noted.
From April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2023, the Bonnyville SPCA had a total canine intake of 136. Of those, 47 dogs were returned to their owners, 44 dogs were adopted, and the remaining dogs are either still up for adoption or have been transferred to other shelters to be adopted.
During the same period, 183 felines arrived at the SPCA with only five cats being claimed by their owner. There were a total of 109 cat and kitten adoptions and two medically necessary euthanizations.
The remaining unadopted cats are either still at the SPCA waiting to be adopted or have been transferred to other shelters.
Expanding the doghouse
The Bonnyville and District SPCA board of directors is looking at how they can expand to meet the growing need that they are seeing in their shelter, which is projected to continue.
“The board is trying to decide what the best solution is. Do we expand this shelter, having small patches here and there, or do we find a new location with the facilities already there?” Rodriguez said. “Either one will require an investment, and we don’t know what we can afford.”
The Town of Bonnyville recently gave permission to the shelter to expand their footprint, but it will be up to the organization to construct additional kennels or bring in mobile units to house more animals.
"If we expand, and hopefully we will, we are going to increase our capacity of intake. It doesn't mean our adoption rates are going to go higher. So, the shelter’s expenses are going to go up, but the income is likely going to stay the same,” acknowledged the shelter’s manager.
The solution will be determined by the resources that the shelter can acquire.
Whatever the future holds for the Bonnyville SPCA, Rodriguez said they will need the support of the community and both partnering municipalities.
“We have always had the support of our community. I cannot be more proud. Yes, we don’t live in a big city, but I think it has its own benefits. People are more in tune with what is happening in the community,” she said.
Seeking buy-in from each municipality could pose its own challenge. In October, the MD of Bonnyville council voted not to join the Bonnyville and District SPCA board of directors.
Responding to that decision for the first time publicly, Rodriguez said, “If we are working together, it will be easier if they can actually hear directly from us what is happening. So, it was a little disappointing... We want them to know what we are doing. So hopefully, later on, they will decide something different.”
Rodiguez added, “The most important part of any journey is the first step – and that has been taken. We'll see where our steps take us.”
RELATED STORY: MD votes not to join Bonnyville SPCA’s board of directors
