Shelters overflowing as owners abandon pets due to rising care costs: WCAS

WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Ill. (WTVO) — Animal shelters across the nation are struggling to find homes for those in need, including in Winnebago County.

“Really, our population should be around 60 or so,” said Adoption and Volunteer Program Coordinator for Winnebago County Animal Services, Amber Pinnon. “Just so everybody has an adequate amount of space and gets the time that the special individualized time that we would like to give them.”

Surrendered cats and dogs count for almost 30% of all animals in shelters, according to Shelter Animal Count’s 2024 statistical report. Winnebago Animal Services said the population is always high.

“I just think people are going through really hard, tough times right now, and it’s just a little bit more difficult for people to keep their pets in tough economic situations and things of that sort,” Pinnon Explained. “Adoptions have slowed nationwide. So, we’ve seen that a little bit here as well too, that our length of stay is a little bit longer than it was years ago.”

The issue has carried over to Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary in Rockford.

“The most common excuse that we’re getting is that everything’s become more expensive, so they can only afford the non-negotiable,” Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary’s Brooke Pond said. “Unfortunately for some people, a pet does not make that cut.”

The sanctuary said some owners have started to abandon their animals outside their clinic.

“There’s no way to really say if the animals that are strays or dumped or come in after running at large are from people that got rid of them because they couldn’t afford them, but its fair to make that assumption, some of them just sadly resort to abandoning them or setting them loose,” Pond explained.

Abandoning pets is a crime and considered a form of animal cruelty in Illinois. Offenders could receive misdemeanor charges that could result in six months of jail time and a $1,500 fine.