SILVERDALE, Wash. — Kitsap County Humane Society is “eyeball deep” in animals and is desperate for your help. The shelter is overcapacity and urgently seeking fosters and prospective adopters.
It’s not a unique problem — shelters are navigating an influx of animals all across the country.
Humane Society officials say adoption numbers are down by about a third compared to what they were before the pandemic. The number of strays and owner surrenders is up, and the length of stay for animals in the last five years has nearly doubled.
The shelter is having the hardest time clearing the shelter of large dogs.
Many of the issues were caused, or exacerbated by, the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Executive Director Jamie Nocula.
Like COVID babies, COVID pets may have lacked vital socialization early in their lives, leading to potential behavioral challenges as the world has opened back up.
“They’re five, six years old now, and they haven’t been socialized with other animals,” Nocula said. “They haven’t been socialized with humans.”
Those behavioral challenges have proven to be too much for some owners.
The other problem: the pandemic led to a lack of access for spay and neuter surgeries, especially low-cost, ones, which Nocula said “set animal welfare in our nation back 40 years.”
Costs have been a big challenge for pet owners, too. It’s the number one reason Nocula said people don’t adopt.
Kitsap County has a free pet food pantry for residents of Kitsap and Mason counties. They also have a new low-cost veterinary clinic. In one year, it has served thousands of animals.
There are likely similar services in your area.
“We are surrounded by dozens and dozens of animal welfare organizations, small grassroots rescues,” Nocula said.
Kitsap County Humane Society has compiled a list of other resources for financial assistance here, including services both in Kitsap County and outside it.
If you’d like to help the Kitsap County Humane Society, donate food or money, volunteer, adopt, or foster.
Fostering can help socialize animals outside of the stress of a shelter environment, making them more viable candidates for adoption.
You can learn more about these opportunities here.
“There are so many animals in these shelters that want to bring a smile to your face and to your heart,” Nocula said. “They are magical beings that do so much, and I think that what the world needs right now is more love.”
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