Humane Society of Yuma seeing unusual influx in stray animals
News 11's Adonis Albright speaks with the shelter to learn more about the unique situation
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The Humane Society of Yuma (HSOY) recently announced its shelter is at maximum capacity. In the past month of April alone, roughly 700 animals were brought into the shelter. In the past two weeks, nearly 200 were taken in, with over 150 of them being stray.
Related: Humane Society reaches max capacity
Although reaching capacity isn't necessarily a unique situation for the shelter, the number of strays are unusual, according to Annette Lagunas, the Executive Director of the HSOY. But it isn't all stray animals, there's another factor contributing to the sudden influx.
“For April we had 686 animals enter the shelter, and I would say about 20% of those were owner give-ups", said Lagunas.
The HSOY says when the pandemic first happened, pet surgeries, like spaying and neutering, came to a screeching halt. This might be what's contributing to the number of stray animals in Yuma County.
“For April I can tell you that it was exactly 50% - 50% dogs and 50% cats entered the shelter. But of those 50% of cats, I would say roughly 90% of them are kittens, or mama’s birthing kittens", said Lagunas.
For current pet owners who are struggling to make ends meet, the Humane Society of Yuma is asking that you reach out for help instead of giving up your pet. The shelter is dedicated to making sure that all pets are taken care of.
“We’ve learned over these past several years that people will feed their pets before they will feed themselves, and so we want to be that source for them to come to for help when they can’t feed their pets, we will certainly do everything in our power to help them."
News 11 spoke with a Yuma County local, Bridgette Herrera, who is in the process of becoming a first-time cat owner after finding a kitten in her backyard. She's putting the unnamed female kitten in the foster care system before formally adopting her.
“Come out and adopt, yes. Come out and adopt and help out", said Herrera.
The shelter is always looking for more foster parents to help temporarily house pets, and can also help to see if adoption is a good fit for you. To find out more about becoming a foster parent, head to the HSOY website.
