SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – More Vermonters are seeking new homes for their pets, and shelters and pet stores are feeling the strain.
The choice to relinquish a pet can be heartbreaking, and more people are making the devastating decision. Local animal shops and services say they’re helping as best they can, but it’s hard to keep up.
The Pet Advantage in South Burlington is in the business of selling animals, but lately, they’re taking them in too.
Employee Gabriel Oullette has seen emotional goodbyes from people who can no longer provide a home for their pets.
“They’re in tears when they drop the animal off,” said Oullette.
Staff noticed a rehoming uptick starting in June. Their recent intakes: a guinea pig whose family moved away and a tortoise whose owners grew too old to care for her.
While happy to help these animals, Oullette says they rarely recoup the high costs of proper pet care for the unexpected additions.
“We do try to help people because sometimes the rescues get overwhelmed also…We don’t wanna see animals just disposed of,” he said.
One of those rescues is the Humane Society of Chittenden County, which also saw an uptick in rehoming last year.
Urgent cases like domestic violence situations or people at risk of homelessness get precedence, with others sometimes waiting weeks to rehome.
“We do everything we can to make sure that we’re not turning people away. But sometimes it does take a little bit longer for space to become available,” said Jenna McMaster of the Humane Society.
Small mammals often wait the longest for the shelter and 2 to 3 months for adoption – but dogs and cats wait half that.
“At the moment, at least for rabbits and guinea pigs, there are more requests coming in than there are animals going out,” said McMaster.
If the owner is in a rush to rehome, the shelter suggests the store where they bought the pet.
For rehoming reptiles and birds, which the shelter doesn’t take, they recommend wildlife rehabilitation sites. Pet Advantage is ready to help, but say staff and animals can only handle so much.
“It’s also stressful for the animal to trade from one home to another constantly. You have to pick the right pet for you,” said Oullette.
Local animal experts aren’t sure what’s caused the rise in rehoming, but to curb it, Pet Advantage says they educate buyers on the reality of pet ownership.
The Humane Society of Chittenden County hopes to expand soon to take in a broader range of animals.
