Local animal shelters full of dogs, cats

Cost of living, pandemic create issues

BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Over 40 cats and 20 dogs are currently up for adoption at Castle Rock’s Buddy Center, a Dumb Friends League animal shelter, which is nearing its capacity as adoptions have slowed down.

Adrianne Glazer, a content and communications specialist for the Dumb Friends League, said the shelter has seen declining adoption numbers for the past three years since the start of the pandemic.

Glazer pointed to the pandemic’s impact on housing. Landlords increased pet rent fees and added more breed restrictions. The economy and rising pet-care costs have also resulted in fewer pet adoptions since 2020.

“Life is expensive, not only are housing costs and costs of living going up, but so is the cost of care,”

Glazer said. “Providing basic care for pets is becoming less and less attainable for some people.” ose same conditions, along with more people returning to work in an o ce, have also led to more animals being surrendered to local shelters, Glazer said. e shelter’s current longest stay, a 6-year-old lab named Apollo, was surrendered to the shelter in April.

“Ultimately, the challenge is that our intakes are surpassing our adoptions,” Glazer said.

With fewer adoptions, the average amount of time a dog stays in the shelter’s care have doubled from 6 days in 2019 to 12 days in 2023. While the shelter provides a safe and caring environment for its animals, Glazer said it’s best for pets to have homes and families.

“ e shelter environment, even though they’re well taken care of, is not ideal long-term,” Glazer said.

“As much as we get attached, there’s nothing like seeing them be adopted.”

To be able to continue to help stray or surrendered animals, Glazer said adoption is key.

“In order to take care of more animals, we, at the Dumb Friends League and shelters all over, need to nd homes for the animals we do have,” she said.

To help facilitate successful adoptions, not only do sta at the Buddy Center help pair animals and potential adopters, but the shelter also o ers a behavior hotline for questions, a complimentary vet visit, and a month of pet insurance.

Cats and dogs at the shelter are also spayed or neutered and microchipped before being adopted out. Glazer said adoption trends have switched recently, with cats becoming more popular than dogs.

“We’re here to make those matches and keep people and their animals together,” Glazer said. “Our animals have so many unique attributes and they need homes.”

With lots of animals at the shelter, Glazer said the Buddy Center also needs volunteers and fosters.

To learn more about adoption, volunteering, fostering, or donating to the Buddy Center, go to www.ddfl.org/locations/buddycenter.