Requests to surrender dogs soar at Richmond's animal shelter
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This is Bella Boo, a 7-year-old pit bull terrier who lives for belly rubs and is looking for a forever home. Photo: Courtesy of RACC
People are trying to give up their pets to Richmond's city-owned animal shelter at a rate that's like "nothing I've seen before," its director tells Axios.
The big picture: Staff say the surge in pet surrender requests is overlapping with the economic instability and housing insecurity residents are facing, making the shelter a de facto part of the social safety net.
- It's not what Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC) was designed to do. And RACC wrote in a post that "We are struggling to keep up."
Threat level: The only way the shelter could have enough space to meet the need would be to euthanize more animals, director Christie Chipps Peters tells Axios.
- That's the line she wants to avoid.
By the numbers: Peters, who has led RACC for over a decade, says they're getting 15 to 25 surrender requests daily — the "most I have ever seen in my entire career."
- They've already taken in 168 more animals this year than this time last year.
- There's also been an increase in people saying they found a stray pet in Richmond when they're actually the owner, Peters says.
Zoom in: The reasons why owners are wanting to give their pets up, per Peters, include:
- Losing housing or no-pet policies.
- Can't afford them.
- Don't want them anymore.
Zoom out: It's happening nationwide, including across Virginia and in North Carolina, Peters says.
- But what people can do is foster, adopt, or try to keep their pets out of the shelters, per RACC.
- The shelter waived adoption fees last weekend. Watch for future discounts on social media.
The bottom line: "For those of us in the trenches," RACC wrote. "The trenches are getting bigger."
