Pet rescue organizations say affordability issues are key reason they're over capacity

The Montreal SPCA and local pet rescue and adoption organizations say they’re stretched to the max. They say animals are being given up by their owners at a rate they've never seen before.

“In 2024 we had a record year in terms of admission,” said Montreal SPCA Executive Director Laurence Masse.  “We received more animals than in the past five years.”

Masse says it would normally be a slow period at the SPCA but it’s currently full. It has 200 animals in-house as well as more than 500 pets in foster care.

CTV News spoke to other shelters and rescue groups in the Montreal area that say they are experiencing a similar phenomenon.

“There's been an overcapacity of animals in shelters and rescues, we're going on almost a year now,” said Marilyn Gelfand, the president of the non-profit Gerdy’s Rescues and Adoptions.

She says Montreal pet owners continue to abandon their pets in large numbers around moving day, and they continue to see the fallout of pandemic impulse adoptions.

But more recently, with the rising cost of living, many people simply can’t afford to keep their pets anymore.

“What we noticed is behind every surrender this year we see a financial reason,” said Masse.

She adds this year, the organization is placing more focus on addressing the root causes of why people give up their pets. She says the SPCA works hard to educate would-be pet owners on the realities of being a pet owner, including time, lifestyle, and costs.

“It [costs on average] $2400 for a cat and up to $4,000 to take care of a dog yearly,” she said.

Gelfand notes that’s just for basic care. She says many vet clinics have been bought up by big chains, and medical costs can be inflated.

“A broken leg could cost $7,000 to repair,  a simple gastritis emergency during the night is, you know, $1200 - $2000 before they're finished,” she explained. “So a lot of animals are being left at clinics and emergency clinics.”

Thanks to new provincial legislation that passed in 2024, the SPCA says it will begin offering low-cost vet services to  low-income pet owners later this year.  It also plans to continue fighting to ban no-pet clauses from leases, which are a major reason why pets are abandoned in Quebec.

“Twenty-five per cent of families here in Quebec have a dog at home, but only 4.2 per cent of landlord allow dogs in their housing,” she said.

“People say I just cannot find a place that I can afford that will allow my animal to come with me," Gelfand adds.