'Inundated with animals.' Redding pet rescue programs, animal shelters, have no more room

Animal shelters and rescue centers are facing tough decisions about what to do with a flood of dogs and cats that are in need of medical help and forever homes.

Rising costs for veterinary supplies, overbreeding, long waits for vet appointments, rental units that don't allow pets and fewer younger vets to replace retiring professionals has led to more people leaving their furry friends at Haven Humane Society and other shelters, animal advocates said.

Now rescuers say their shelters are full or beyond capacity, leaving no room for more.

With 28 cats and eight dogs, even animal advocate Karen Hansen’s Cottonwood home is full, she said. Hansen runs the nonprofit pet rescue Catz and Dogz of the North State out of her house.

People giving up their pets was so common in 2023 and so far in 2024 that Hansen had to say "no" to most callers who wanted her to take in their animals. It was a matter of preserving her own health, she said.

At one point last year, “I had 20 additional dogs and 40 cats" and she worked from 6 a.m. to midnight caring for them. “I was crying because I was so tired,” Hansen said.

Now, she keeps her rescue at capacity. But it's hard to say no.

Difficult to turn animals away

Hansen said she had to comfort a fellow animal rescuer who had to terminate the pregnancy of a four-month-old kitten. Birth could have killed the mother and created eight more kittens to care for and to then try to place in a permanent setting.

“People in rescue don’t want to do pregnancy termination,” said Hansen, but they aren't able to find homes for a dozen newborns, either. So some ill cats that are pregnant receive abortions, sometimes to keep the mother alive.

It’s not just a North State problem.

Animal shelters and rescues being packed to capacity is a dilemma throughout California, including at Haven Humane Society in Anderson. That center is full, according to Haven CEO Mark Storrey.

Los Angeles and Bay Area shelters reported similar difficulties throughout 2023, according to shelter websites and stories in the Los Angeles Times and on SFGATE.com.

Approximately 390,000 dogs and 530,000 cats are euthanized annually nationwide, according to the ASPCA.

But California’s urban areas usually have more spay and neuter options and more veterinary services in general, while urbanites also tend to have more money to pay for that care, said Hansen. Rural areas like Shasta and Tehama counties often have more colonies of unowned cats and more dogs that have been neglected or abandoned than in urban communities.

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'Euthanasia is always our last choice'

In 14 years, Storrey said he has never seen Haven as busy as it has been from 2023 to 2024.

Haven has had to turn away some people who want to have their pets spayed or neutered because the shelter’s two full-time vets and one part-time vet are busy trying to keep up with care for animals already in Haven’s adoption center, wildlife brought to them for medical care and homeless cats that are trapped, ‘fixed’ and released, he said.

“We did just shy of 3,000 spay/neuters in 2023," he said, with 1,123 of the sterilization procedures being performed on stray cats. The rest of the surgeries were conducted for customers' pets and animals in Haven's adoption center, Storrey said.

Having so many stray animals in need of health care and adoption takes its toll on both the pets and the people caring for them, Storrey and Hansen said.

“We’re always going to try to be a ‘no kill’ (facility)," said Storrey, referring to an industry term to describe shelters with a 90% live release rate, with the remainder of the animals either being euthanized or dying at the shelter from existing illness or injuries.

"We were like that for dogs for seven years,” until 2023, said Storrey. “Unfortunately, over the past 12 to 15 months, we’ve been inundated with animals,” he said.

'Inundated with animals'

Reasons for the uptick include intentional animal overbreeding and people not getting their pets spayed or neutered, in part due to rising vet costs. Pet owners may have to wait weeks or longer to get a veterinary appointment. It's also hard for pet owners to find rental housing that allows dogs or cats, according to Storrey.

In 2023, Haven cared for 4,746 animals. Almost 40%, or 1,885 individuals, were pets that Haven adopted out. The rest were animals that arrived dead or dying, pets later reunited with their owners, wildlife later released back into their territories and customers' pets — along with 1,123 stray outdoor cats — that were brought in for spay or neuter services, according to Storrey.

He said the center conducted just under 3,000 spay and neuter surgeries on dogs and cats last year.

"Euthanasia is always our last choice," Storrey said.

There was a little good news.

More people are adopting dogs and cats from Haven this month than usual, Storrey said, thanks in part to a waiver of pet adoption fees at Haven through May 15.

For more information, call Haven Humane Society at 530-241-1653, or Catz and Dogz of the North State at 530-527-9369.

Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta animal shelters and rescue programs overflowing with cats, dogs