No shelter: What the data say on animal relinquishments

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a large segment of the population working from home, and most other activities inaccessible, it seemed nearly everyone wanted a pet. Many people turned to purchasing or adopting a new cat or dog, for companionship, entertainment, a way to keep their children occupied, or myriad other reasons.

Almost as soon as this trend began, the discussion started to shift to the inevitable post-COVID world, in which offices re-opened, workers left their homes, activities resumed, and the “pandemic pets” were cast aside as fast as they were originally added to the family.

Over just the last few months, there have been stories from the CBC, CTV, and Global News, discussing increasing numbers of pet surrenders. The articles explain that the volumes of pets are inundating humane societies and rescues across Canada, such as Regina, Sudbury, and Calgary, straining their ability to accommodate all the animals.

As one example, CBC published a story in July 2022, with the headline “Pandemic pets ending up in shelters as owners return to office, struggle with rising costs.” There has been a 63% increase in the number of pets landing in shelters this year compared to the same period in 2021, as surrenders climbed from 520 to 845 over the first half of the year.

It then goes on to attribute this surge to the lifting of pandemic restrictions and accelerating inflation, including the rising costs of veterinary services. Taking a step back to assess the broader situation, however, paints a more positive picture.

Figure 1 shows the number of animals surrendered to Toronto Animal Services each year from 2012 through 2021. For 2022, the 845 figure for the first half the year is doubled, to just shy of 1700 forecasted surrenders for the full year.

Figure 1.

Annual animal surrenders to Toronto Animal Services, 2012 to 2022.

Although this would result in the number of relinquishments in 2022 surpassing those in both 2020 and 2021, it would wind up well below relinquishments in 2012 through 2019, when the number of surrendered animals fluctuated from approximately 2200 to 3600 per year. Looking across Canada as a whole, the data tell a similar story to that of Toronto Animal Services.

Figure 2 shows the cumulative number of admissions to Canadian shelters per quarter, from the first quarter of 2016 through to the second quarter of 2022, categorized by stray animals, transferred animals, and owner surrenders.

Figure 2.

Admissions to Canadian shelters, Q1 2016 to Q2 2022.

Owner relinquishments of animals reached a low of approximately 5000 in the second quarter of 2020 and have since climbed to just under 8000 in the second quarter of 2022. This figure, however, is roughly in line with pre-pandemic volumes. In addition, as more agencies across the country have begun reporting their admission statistics, the cumulative numbers will inevitably climb as a result of a larger sampling database.

To adjust for this, we can instead look at the average surrender volume per reporting agency.

Figure 3 shows the number of animals surrendered for the first half of the year to the average Ontario shelter, and the average Canadian shelter. Across both groups, relinquishments have increased from 2020 and 2021 levels yet remain well below pre-pandemic levels.

Figure 3.

Number of owner surrenders for the first half the year, average Ontario shelter, and average Canadian shelter, 2016 to 2022.

There are, undoubtedly, those rescues and humane societies that are struggling with the number of animals in their care, whether due to a localized uptick in relinquishments, a hoarding situation, or another unique set of circumstances. Yet, it is clear from the data, that there is little evidence in support of widespread surrendering of animals.

This is, to some extent, relatively unsurprising. Over recent decades, the human-animal bond has become increasingly strong and important for most people. In a recent Ontario survey of pet owners conducted by the OVMA, the vast majority felt that their pet was akin to a member of their family or even their child. In addition, when asked where they would cut back spending if financial issues required it, only 1 in 5 indicated that they would seek to reduce spending on their pets; they were more likely to trim expenditures on entertainment, clothing, electronics, household items, and even groceries.

For most pet owners, regardless of how long they’ve had their animal, or the initial driving motivation for obtaining it, the idea that they would give them up simply because of a change in circumstance, such as a return to in-office work, is unthinkable. Encouragingly, the data support this.

Notes: Data on animal relinquishment graciously provided by the Toronto Humane Society, sourced from animal welfare organizations nationally that are using Petpoint database software.