By now we have all heard the stories of the "Pandemic Pets". People who adopted animals last year when they were out of work/working from home/alone at home, and now that things are returning to normal, have no time for the aforementioned pets. They are returning them to animal shelters in droves, and it's a sad situation that is playing out all over the United States, including here in Acadiana.

The Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center has had a lot to celebrate recently, with the opening of its new $8.9 million, 20,000 square foot facility and its "No-kill" status being implemented. But recently they have been faced with a problem they never dreamed would happen.

So many pets are being dropped off that their "No-Kill" status is being threatened. In order to be a verified "No-Kill" shelter, at least 90% of the animals there need to be saved and adopted out. The Lafayette facility has 70 cat kennels and 90 dog kennels, and Robert Benoit, chief of staff for LCG told KLFY “We had every kennel full as of Monday of last week. It was really strange to have that many in there. There were 60 dogs and cats taken to the shelter in one day last week." He went on to say that the majority of the animals being brought in were kittens and that a lot of the pets were strays being dropped off.

Here are several tips, via KLFY, to prevent pets from being brought back to the shelter:

Spay/neuter your pets.
Foster shelter pets while they’re waiting to be adopted
Rehome your pet rather than surrender it to the shelter
Attempt to reunite a lost pet with its owner.

 

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