Animal Adoption Crisis

In March of 2020, animal adoption was the thing to do as many people rushed out to adopt shelter animals before lockdowns began. Suddenly, shelters were empty as pets found their new homes. Unfortunately, for some of those pets, their new homes are not their forever homes. In May of 2021, shelters and rescues started to see a startling trend of returns for adopted animals. Many of the pet owners had never owned pets before and found the commitment to be too much, especially when people started to return to in-person work.

In Wichita, the Wichita Animal Shelter is continually full and our local shelters including the Kansas Humane Society, Wichita Animal Action League, Beauties and Beasts, and Kansas K9 ResQ are filling up to capacity. These shelters and rescues need help to save pet lives.

How Can You Help Rescue Animals?

• First, more adoptive families are needed to give these pets forever homes. The first step is to check out their websites to see if there are pets who would be a good fit for your lifestyle.
• Second, you will want to schedule an in-person meeting with the animal, again to check for a good fit. If you already have pets in the home you may schedule a time for the animals to meet to see how they get along. If you are considering adopting a dog and you have a cat, be sure to ask if the dog has lived with cats before.
• Third, if you aren't interested in keeping an animal long-term, become a foster parent! Fosters are desperately needed for several reasons. First, fosters help keep shelters from reaching capacity. Second, foster homes are less stressful for animals than the shelter environment. Even though shelters work hard to provide a calm, enriching environment, it's different than a home. Third, you can help save pets that need extra attention that is too difficult to provide in the shelters. This can include animals that have medical issues or animals working on behaviors to make them more adoptable. Foster homes save lives as much as adoptive homes.

Contact your local shelter or rescue today to see how you can best help with an animal adoption or foster home!