Facing animal overpopulation at shelters across Illinois, state lawmakers and pet advocates gathered Wednesday with DuPage County leaders to push for legislative solutions.
The problem, they said, is more people are facing economic crisis and are unable to keep their pets. Whether because of the high cost of pet fees in rental housing, the fast-rising price of veterinary care or other reasons, many pet owners are making the difficult decision to surrender their animals.
“People can no longer afford their pets,” said Marc Ayers, Illinois state director for Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States. “There are so many reasons — mainly economic — that are creating the situation that people can no longer have a pet in their home. And so they’re making that decision to surrender.”
Shelter overpopulation due to financial stress reached what officials describe as “crisis” level about a year ago in DuPage County, said Brian Krajewski, a Republican County Board member representing District 3 in the Downers Grove area.
Krajewski is chairman of the Animal Services Committee, which helped oversee the completion of the county’s newly expanded animal shelter. The ability to care for a larger number of animals comes at a critical time, he said.
The facility is an “open-admission shelter,” Animal Services Administrator Laura Flamion said. This means it accepts all domestic animals, regardless of their age, breed, health, disposition — even the shelter’s space and capacity.
“Overpopulation is an issue, specifically in shelters like ours,” Flamion said of facilities that provide a place to responsibly drop off an animal to remain in someone else’s care. “This is a vital service. Everybody has to have an option, otherwise we end up with people abandoning animals outside.”
DuPage County has taken in nearly 1,100 animals as “found pets outside” this year, with only about 275 — or 25% — reunited with their owners, Flamion said.
Of all the pets surrendered so far in 2025 — 779 in total — financial hardship was the reason owners gave them up in 508 of the cases, or 65%, she said.
The problem of too many dogs, cats and other pets arriving at shelters is compounded by the problem of too few of them finding new owners, advocates say.
“We have animals with a much longer length of stay. Our adoptions have been much slower this year,” Flamion said. “We see our staff and our volunteers are emotionally and physically drained. And this isn’t a shelter problem. It’s a community problem that needs a community response.”
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Four state senators and one state representative in attendance at Wednesday’s gathering said they plan to push legislation that will address shelter overpopulation from two fronts. Lawmakers are looking to increase pet-inclusive housing and expand veterinary capacity. They say this would help renters afford their pets and all pet owners to pay for veterinary care.
Ideas to improve pet-inclusive housing are focused on decreasing the costs charged by rental companies for both nonrefundable pet fees and monthly “pet rent.”
“Pet-inclusive housing is not just an animal welfare issue,” Ayers said. “It’s a housing justice issue.”
State Sen. Suzy Glowiak, a Democrat representing District 23 in northern and eastern DuPage County, said housing costs are already too high, and pet fees — often as much as $250 to $650 for renters — are “pushing stable housing out of reach.”
“I’m calling for a reasonable cap on pet fees. It’s a fair solution,” Glowiak said. “We can still protect landlords; they can still recover legitimate damages, and families can stay together. This is about fairness. It’s about stability. And it’s about compassion for people — people who own their pets.”
Legislators also hope to address veterinarian shortages by pushing for license reciprocity between Illinois and other states and by allowing credentialed veterinary technicians to perform more services.
If passed, measures like these could combine with other efforts to make a dent in the problem of animal abandonment and shelter overpopulation, Ayers said. These include work to crack down on the sale of puppies — often in poor health and with predatory financing — by a few stores that are skirting existing laws, and efforts to increase spay and neuter services in low-income communities.
Marie Wilson is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.