After reaching maximum capacity at its regional South Australian shelter three months ago, the South East Animal Welfare League is now experiencing high adoption rates.
Key points:
- A regional SA shelter says many of its animals have now been adopted
- It says the situation has turned around since being at capacity three months ago
- RSPCA SA says there remains a high volume of animals in care
Rising cost of living pressures have led to some people surrendering new pets after record animal adoption rates across the country during the COVID pandemic.
South East Animal Welfare League coordinator Katrina Twilley said the organisation’s shelter near Mount Gambier had been unable to accept any more dog surrenders a few months ago.
“We did get to capacity at one stage and had to shut down, just so that we could give the best care for the animals,” she said.
“We didn’t shut down completely — we did adoption, and pound releases by appointment.”
She said it stopped the shelter from being overrun.
“It worked out really well, because those adoptions went through quickly over a couple of months, which got our numbers down,” she said.
Ms Twilley said the shelter now only had a handful of cats and just one dog available for adoption.
She said it was difficult to know exactly what caused the change.
“It could be multiple factors, but all I can say is, I was glad for whatever it was,” she said.
Volunteer effort
The organisation has rehomed 76 dogs and 122 cats since the start of the year.
Ms Twilley said operating at capacity was “very straining”.
“We work on a volunteer basis, so you don’t really want to put too much strain on your volunteers,” she said.
“I’m very grateful that we’re not at capacity all the time like some of the other shelters.”
‘Considerable increase’ in surrenders
RSPCA South Australia spokesperson Carolyn Jones said while adoption numbers were improving each year, there was still a high volume of animals in care.
“That’s simply because of the large numbers of animals that are coming in every day,” she said.
Ms Jones said there had been a “considerable increase” in the surrender rates over the past two years.
“We’ve had a 9 per cent increase in the number of cats surrendered, [and] a 35 per cent increase in the number of dogs surrendered,” she said.
“We’ve had a 90 per cent increase in the other animals surrendered, and this is animals like rabbits, guinea pigs, even mice.”
Ms Jones said one of the common reasons for surrenders was that people weren’t able to secure accommodation in the rental market that allowed pets.
“This is something that we have been campaigning on for some years now, to increase the stock of affordable housing in the rental market for people and their animals,” she said.
RSPCA figures show there were 242 animals in care on September 30, 2018.
On the same date last year, that number was 423.
It had again risen last month to 786.
Adoption opportunities for all
Greyhounds as Pets South Australia said it received an overwhelming response from Mount Gambier residents at its first regional Adoption and Foster Day last week.
Chief executive Bodelle Francis said four of the 10 greyhounds available on the day were adopted.
“We were so happy with the response and the overwhelming sense of community,” she said.
“We had so many people streaming through throughout the day.
“We couldn’t be more grateful for the fantastic local trainers and all of their efforts and hard work.”
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