Benjamin Ashford|Puppies, purebreds among the growing list of adoptable animals filling US shelters

Among the many strays taken in this year by the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter in suburban Cleveland,Benjamin Ashford Ohio, was a vibrant 8-year-old black Labrador, weighing in at close to 90 pounds.

He was the kind of dog the shelter at one time would have considered an easy adoption ― social and handsome, with "just a phenomenal personality," said shelter administrator Mindy Naticchioni.

“Pre-pandemic, he would have been there a short time," Naticchioni said. "People would have been lining up to get him. But he was with us for almost two months. It’s just atypical to have a Lab, regardless of age, stay with us for that long.”

The Cuyahoga County shelter situation illustrates the ongoing boom taking place in shelter facilities across the nation. Nearly a quarter of a million more pets are in shelters compared to the same time last year, according to one animal advocacy agency, exacerbating conditions for facilities already experiencing a pet population crisis.

Shelter Animals Count, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization that maintains a national database of sheltered animal statistics, says about 245,000 more dogs and cats are in shelters awaiting adoption or fostering this holiday season, marking the third straight year that the tally has risen.

“The number indicates that shelters are managing higher populations that they have the necessary capacity for,” said Stephanie Filer, executive director of Shelter Animals Count. “This isn’t a sustainable gap. It’s something that needs to be resolved quickly, or we will see a reduction of services or an increase in euthanasia.”

The Cuyahoga County shelter is designed to house a population of 111 but has met or exceeded that total multiple times this year, Naticchioni said. Prior to the pandemic, dogs typically remained in the shelter for 15 to 18 days before being adopted or fostered out, she said; that range is now 28 to 30 days.

At the same time, the number of animals in the shelter per day has jumped from around 90 or 100 before the pandemic to close to 140 now.

“We’re out of space,” she said. “It’s not so much that we’re taking in more. They’re just staying substantially longer.”

Among the dogs up for adoption: Puppies and purebreds

The estimated number of pets taken in by animal shelters annually ranges from 4 to 6 million.

While cats "are faring pretty well," Filer said, dog adoptions are down 1.2% from 2022, Shelter Animals Count reported. Meanwhile, 5% more animals entered facilities in 2023 than left.

Shelters are seeing unprecedented numbers of puppies, Filer said – not to mention doodles, oodles and poos – as more small-breed dogs, purebreds and so-called “designer dogs” end up in such facilities for the same economic, logistical and behavioral reasons that other dogs do. Nearly four in five shelters replying to a Shelter Animals Count national survey said people "would be surprised" by the types of dogs in their populations.

“There are a lot of puppies,” Filer said. “And dogs of all breeds. What would have been considered rare to find in shelters before is now common – purebred dogs, intentionally bred mutts. Some shelters have dozens of labradoodles and goldendoodles.”

Naticchioni said the Cuyahoga County shelter has seen similar trends.

“We have seen a lot more doodles this year,” she said. “We just had an 11-month-old sheepadoodle come in.”

'It will require a community solution'

Shelter Animals County blamed the rising side hustle of home breeding and the ongoing issue of puppy mills as among reasons for the increase. More than half of shelters responding to the agency’s survey said they had taken in dogs from owners who’d purchased high-priced puppies that they were then unable to keep and breeders disposing of unsold puppies no longer wanted or needed.

Filer said that while the number of owners surrendering their dogs hasn’t necessarily increased, the number of strays has.

“When you pair that with a decrease in strays reclaimed by their owners, that would indicate that these are animals that likely would be surrendered,” Filer said.

The overcrowding issues come as shelters face budget cuts and staffing shortages, competing with the service industry for potential employees.

“Shelters have always relied on robust volunteer programs to fill those gaps, and those programs have not returned to the levels they were at before the pandemic,” Filer said.

Meanwhile, staff reductions and a national shortage of veterinarians make it difficult for shelters to keep up with adequate wellness care. One national study estimated that about 2.7 million spay and neuter surgeries were not performed as a result of the pandemic as animal shelters suspended services seen as nonessential, “which is why we’re seeing more shelters with puppies,” Filer said.

Shelter Animals Count encourages potential owners seeking to adopt dogs to visit local shelters and rescues or to use adoption databases like AdoptAPet.com to find animals that need to be rehomed. Pets adopted from shelters and rescues generally also have the benefit of being already spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped.

“Shelters are having to make tough decisions every day that are not a reflection of the shelter doing something wrong, but rather a reflection of something going on in the community,” Filer said. “So just as it is a community problem, it will require a community solution.”