Southern Alberta animal shelters overrun with abandoned pets

The animal shelter at Pincher Creek is currently housing 25 dogs despite only being designed for 10.

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Animal shelters across the province are finding themselves frequently at capacity -- or more.

Making things worse is a rise of pet owners abandoning or surrendering their pets.

The Pincher Creek Humane Society got a nasty surprise earlier this week:  Monday, staff arrived at work to discover two abandoned huskies tied to the shelter door.

Just a few hours later, three more dogs arrived before someone else showed up with a puppy telling staff they had to take it or the dog was going to the dump.

The shelter is currently housing 25 dogs despite only being designed for 10.

“Pretty much got out of control quickly because we do have a mom with 10 puppies here. We are way over as it is, but it's just the concern of viruses now. Bio-security is a huge thing for us right now,” said Kelly Lepine with the Pincher Creek Humane Society.

It's a similar story at the Claresholm Animal Rescue Society.

They've had to turn dogs away due to overcrowding.

Staff are even needing to take dogs home over night to make room.

“Our abandons and surrenders are humongous, and we're only a small shelter. We only have room for seven dogs and maybe 35 or 40 cats. On average per month I’m turning down between 30 and 40 dogs,” said Lorraine Norgard with the Claresholm Animal Rescue Society.

One of the biggest reasons behind this wave of abandonments is the cost of living.

More and more people struggling to afford keeping their pets.

Norgard said “a lot of people can't afford to feed their family so how do they feed a dog or a cat?”

Resources are available for people struggling to take care of their pets.