Facing an unusual uptick in animal arrivals, the South Suburban Humane Society knows what it will take to alleviate the concerns that trend has created: adoptions, foster families and donations.
What’s less certain is what’s behind the noticeable change.
“It’s been a question we’ve been asking ourselves all summer long as we’ve been experiencing this,” said Emily Klehm, CEO of the Chicago Heights-based organization. “We really think it is the economic aftereffects of the pandemic. We’re seeing a huge influx of stray pets and we’re still trying to wrap our brain around what that is. I know what it’s not — It’s not pandemic pets getting returned. … We have not seen that at all, nor have any of the shelters we work with across Chicago.”
The South Suburban Humane Society took in 98 pets last week alone, bringing its total at the time to 147 animals available for adoption. The shelter has not seen animals going out the door at the same rate, which Klehm said could be pandemic-related in that people have been returning to “normalcy,” traveling and holding parties, which makes it a less-than-ideal time in their lives to adopt.
No matter the cause, the trend has seen the shelter utilizing what are typically meet-and-greet rooms to house dogs. Another group of dogs have taken over a meeting room, and there is even a dog occupying an office at the facility.
“We’re very committed to never euthanizing for time or space, so right now every available space within the shelter is full,” Klehm said. “It’s not ideal by any stretch of the imagination, but we have to try.”
Klehm noted intake numbers are always higher in the summer, because kittens are born in warm weather and whole litters are brought in.
“What’s not normal is the number of stray pets,” she said.
The South Suburban Humane Society has 14 municipal contracts, from Harvey to Chicago Heights to Homewood, that see animal control officers bring in stray pets. Typically, numbers spike around the July 4, when fireworks scares cause animals to run. But numbers have remained unusually high long after the holiday.
“In the last two days, we’ve seen all of our contracts multiple times,” Klehm said. “It’s just been this steady stream of police officers at our door. It’s a strange problem. Why are so many pets getting lost right now? … I think it’s a big combination of factors, and we still haven’t really uncovered all of the reasons. We’re just trying to wrap our mind around it and deal with it while it’s happening.”
It is not just the South Suburban Humane Society facing this issue. Klehm said they stay close to other shelters in the Chicago area and have heard Chicago Animals Care and Control is completely full, as is the Anti-Cruelty Society in downtown Chicago. National coalition members are also talking about being at capacity or over capacity, Klehm said. And while 2020 is an anomaly they largely ignore for comparative purposes because of how the COVID-19 pandemic changed so many things, Klehm said intake numbers are higher than at this time in 2019.
Chris Higens, president of the Animal Welfare League, which has locations in Chicago Ridge and Chicago that provide services for more than 30 municipalities, wrote in an email to the Southtown that their locations have been experiencing an influx “for some time now” as “open access” shelters.
But even organizations such as NAWS Illinois Humane Society in Mokena that do not have municipal contracts to take in strays are seeing a high volume of requests for pets to enter its adoption program.
“There seems to be a lot of owner give-ups lately,” said Jeannine Huck, board president for NAWS.
Huck said intake of dogs is up about 30% lately, with a “pretty good mix” of breeds and size. When it comes to cats, “it just never ends,” she said. Despite just coming off “kitten season,” owner relinquishments and found kittens have continued to enter the program. It has put a strain on the organization’s resources.
“Internally, we probably have about 80 cats; we like to keep it half of that,” Huck said. “We have a pretty robust network of foster families, and they’re pretty much at capacity at this point.”
Both Klehm and Huck said they can use adoptions and foster families to alleviate those concerns. Monetary assistance is always welcome. But people can also purchase food, litter and more from their Amazon and Chewy wish lists to be shipped directly to the shelters.
“We’re open to any method,” Huck said.
At NAWS, Huck said, fostering usually requires a commitment to a certain amount of time, especially if the mother of a litter is nursing. But people have had issues finishing terms in the past, and the organization finds a way to make it work.
“We’ll work with our foster network to rehome those, but ideally it would be through the point of adoption,” she said.
Klehm said the humane society’s need is predominantly foster homes for large, adult dogs, particularly a “large number of pit bull-type dogs,” which PAWS Tinley Park also has seen coming in at high surrender rates lately. Klehm said big dogs take up more space and put more of a strain on an already overloaded facility. Most people foster for two weeks, but medical or behavioral issues may necessitate longer stretches. Taking animals for just a few days would contribute to their well-being and ease the pressure on a shelter, though, she said.
“We try to make fostering as easy as possible for the people who want to foster,” Klehm said. “If people can just give us three days, that’s helpful. … People shouldn’t stay away from fostering because they think there’s some set amount of time. We’re definitely willing to work with people.”
Klehm said people can also help shelters by sharing posts about lost and found pets on social media. New ones at the South Suburban Humane Society are posted online each day, and sharing those posts can help them reach the owners.
“You never know whose post someone is going to see and recognize their lost dog,” Klehm said. “The more that we can get back home, obviously that solves a lot of the space problems, as well.”
Klehm added that the South Suburban Humane Society is “struggling to hire” at the moment. The organization is assisted by “amazing” volunteers, but some are still hesitant to return during a pandemic that has seen a resurgence in cases. So there is a need for both staff and volunteers.
“We’re happy to welcome folks,” Klehm said.
She added that if the South Suburban Humane Shelter is not particularly close to home, folks should reach out to whatever shelter is nearest their neighborhood to ask if they need help. She can “almost guarantee” they do.
“It’s kind of a community, all-hands-on-deck situation in my mind,” Klehm said.
Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.