More pets are entering shelters than are adopted, leaving some owners with no options – Wooster Daily Record

Mitzi is a shy, if not anxious cat. The 14-year-old tabby can be found hiding behind Cathy Bacan’s dresser from her other two cats, who Bacan adopted after her mother died early this summer.
Like the two felines, Bacan inherited Mitzi and a dog from her uncle who died on June 11. 
More:Wayne County, Wooster contract gives canines another layer of protection
But the latest round of pets showed troubling signs of abuse. This abuse makes it hard for Mitzi to live with her mother’s two cats, Bacan said.
“They don’t trust anyone,” she said. “The dog was really abused by my uncle; he would hit him with fly swatters, paper, shoes and anything in hand.”
The financial strain of so many animals also is taking a toll on Bacan, so she started looking for a no-kill shelter that would accept Mitzi.
After nearly a month in her care and in search of a shelter, Bacan sits on waiting lists as shelters in Wayne, Medina and Stark counties are filling up faster than pet owners can adopt. 
“They’ve all turned me away,” Bacan said. “They said they could put my name on a waitlist, but they don’t have any openings because it’s overpopulated with cats and kittens.”
January and February continued a trend that began during the pandemic: more pet owners placed cats and dogs in shelters than they adopted. 
In Ohio during the first two months of 2021, 4,646 dogs were sheltered with only 4,110 being adopted at the state’s 53 organizations. The story is similar for cats with 4,280 sheltered and 4,078 adopted, according to nationwide data from Shelters Animal Count.
Canton:On the rise: Strays and dogs needing homes in Stark County
Shelters around the country, including in Wayne and Stark counties have seen a spike in animals needing homes.
As of July 28, the Wayne County Humane Society reported 212 cats and 51 dogs at its Mechanicsburg Road facility in Wooster. This includes sheltered, strays and lost animals.
In June the Humane Society took in 51 cats and kittens in a four-day period.
Following both reports, the Wayne County Humane Society ran food and supply drives to take care of the sudden influx of animals.
COVID-19 kept much of the nation home, which resulted in people adopting pets for the remote work company, said Jackie Godbey, executive director of the Stark County Humane Society.
Now, many are returning their quarantine pets.
“Around 16 months ago, a lot of people were home and didn’t have pets because they had been working a fast-paced 9 (a.m.) to 5 (p.m.), five days a week job,” Godbey said. “Now people are going back to work and don’t have the time.”
The short answer: not much. 
Godbey said the best thing pet owners looking to shelter a dog or cat can do is to make sure they are up-to-date on their vaccines and are spayed or neutered. 
“We usually have cages open all the time for spayed or neutered pets,” Godbey said. “We need to know the age of the pet and if they’ve been spayed or neutered.”
Most shelters put individuals on waitlists, but that wait can be days or even weeks at a time, as for Bacan with Mitzi. 
Bacan recommends casting a wide net in the hopes at least one shelter will accept a pet sooner rather than later. 
She still has not found a shelter that will accept Mitzi, but she said the moody tabby is beginning to open up. 
“I’d rather see her here and need a lot of work than on the streets not knowing how to survive,” Bacan said. 
Reach Bryce by email at [email protected]
On Twitter: @Bryce_Buyakie

source