He is a big dog, maybe 65 pounds, with lopsided ears that cock upward and a mostly white coat interrupted by a splotch of brown over one eye. When his owners of nearly 10 years were forced to move from their Orange County home because of soaring rent earlier this year, he wound up back at the Orange County Animal Services shelter — the place where he’d been adopted as a puppy a decade ago.
Mostly, he would hide in his kennel. But if he was led to the shelter’s yard, he would race to the fence by the parking lot, scanning the cars as if searching for signs his family had returned.
“His world was shattered,” said Diane Summers, manager of Orange County Animal Services. “He’s only ever known that one family — and they were forced to surrender him because the only apartment complex they can afford does not accept animals.”
Despite his age and size, that dog recently was adopted a second time. But, sadly, Summers said, too many pets aren’t as fortunate. And they’re languishing in shelters with alarming frequency.
With rental housing costs in Florida up 38% year-over-year and the average one-bedroom apartment in Orlando now running over $2,000 a month, Orange County Animal Services has issued an “urgent” plea to residents to spay and neuter their pets to slow the onslaught of animals being surrendered by their owners.
In recent months, the shelter has witnessed a stunning 37% rise in the number of dogs and cats being turned in, often for financial reasons.
“There are people that come to us who say, ‘I’ll be homeless starting today,'” Summers said. “Normally we would try to counsel people on, ‘Well, there are the options we want you to explore first,’ because the shelter should always be the last resort. But when someone’s only option is to live with the animal in their car, there’s really no choice.”
As of June 10, the county had more than 700 animals under its care — 383 at the shelter and another 319 in foster care. On June 9 alone, it took in 114 animals, 40 of them confiscated from dangerous living conditions.
While other Central Florida counties report less dramatic increases, all agree the problem is worsening. Not only is rent climbing, but so too is the cost of living with a pet in general — including pet food, medications and veterinary care. And with gas prices soaring, some residents feel they can no longer handle the expense of a pet.
“I’ve been in [animal] rescue work for 14 years and I’ve never seen it this bad,” said Mandy Figarola, who runs Ziggy’s Legacy Rescue in Brooksville. “We do take a lot of owners surrenders, but we’re private. My husband is a veterinarian and we fund this through our clinic. And when we’re full, we’re full. I think between Friday and Sunday last week, I had to turn away 47 animals.”
Some of the pets surrendered are ailing dogs and cats whose owners cannot afford care.
“But it’s also people having to move in with family members and they can’t take their dog, or they’re moving to an apartment and they can’t cover these big pet deposits a lot of places charge,” Figarola said. “It’s a very, very sad time.”
Meanwhile, shelters are struggling with the same labor shortages plaguing other employers.
According to estimates from the nonprofit Best Friends Animal Society, in late January an estimated 100,000 more dogs and cats were awaiting adoption in U.S. shelters than at the same time a year earlier. A survey of more than 150 shelters and animal organizations found 88% were short on staffing and more than half had cut hours or programs due to staffing problems.
Though employment levels likely have improved somewhat, Kim Staton, director of Osceola County Animal Services, said her shelter is still struggling.
“We’ve had a vacant veterinarian position for over a year,” she said. “The job market is very strange. Where we used to have maybe 15, 20, qualified applicants, we’ll have half that now — and only maybe half of those people will show up for an interview. Then we’ll offer a position and you get to the end of the day that they’re supposed to be here, and they never make it.”
As of Thursday, the shelter had 142 animals in its care. Its ideal maximum is 140.
Volunteer rescue groups, too, are having difficulty keeping up with the need.
“We’re getting people saying they’re moving, and the place they’re moving to can’t take dogs,” said Summer Connelly, volunteer director of Bully Up Rescue, which specializes in pit bull mixes, often shunned by landlords. “But we’re foster-based, which means we can only take as many dogs as we have foster homes for, and right now we don’t have any openings.”
Just 15 volunteers are currently fostering dogs, Connelly said. In better times, the number was close to 50. The rescue group still tries to help desperate pet owners with referrals to other organizations and advice.
So too do county shelters. In Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties, for instance, shelter employees advise people seeking to surrender their animals on pet food banks, veterinary funds and how to find a new home for the animal on their own.
“It’s just a hard time for everybody right now,” said Denise Sims, who tracks intake numbers for Seminole County Animal Services. In May, 166 animals were surrendered by their owners — a 45% jump over the same time last year.
“We understand what people are facing,” she said. “And while the shelter should be a last resort, if they feel a need to surrender their animal, we’d rather see them bring it in than leave it on the street.”
Diane Summers agreed, saying the vitriol often directed at people who surrender their pets is unfair.
“Are there some people who could be making more responsible choices or pursuing more options before they get to our doors? Of course,” she said. “But the people who say, ‘I would never do that horrible thing that this owner did,’ I think that comes from a position of privilege. It’s really hard to make that judgment when somebody is about to be homeless or they have children they can’t feed.”
While Summers hopes more people will consider adopting a pet that has been surrendered, there are other ways to help, she said, including donating to a pet food pantry, spay-neuter program or fund that supports heartworm treatment for otherwise adoptable pets.
“We know not everyone’s in a position to take in another animal,” she said. “But can they foster or volunteer or donate or even just share the word, because that’s valuable too.”
