RI's animal rescues are overwhelmed with dogs. They're hoping to find adopters.

Something is not right.

Tammy Gallo, the executive director of Heart of RI Animal Rescue League, hasn’t been able to put her finger on exactly what’s not right, but she knows in her bones it’s true.

Because never – not in her 25 years of doing this job – has she seen puppies going weeks without being adopted. But this year, she has. She has 16 adoptable puppies at the shelter right now, including golden retriever mixes with floppy ears and oversized paws.

And most years, in June and July she’s seen an increase of people coming in looking to add a furry friend to their family. But not this year.

Instead, she’s seen an increase in people surrendering pets to the shelter. There are all kinds of reasons – moving apartments, changing work schedules, people aging out of being able to care for their pets, being unable to afford the pet as the cost of inflation rises and other reasons the fit didn’t work.

“This is definitely the worst it’s ever been,” Gallo said. “We’ve had lean, lean times as far as adoptions slowing down before ... but there’s always been a reason. Right now, there’s really not a lot of reason.”

For the first time, she said, she’s starting to think about closing the rescue if adoptions don't pick up.

“There’s a huge possibility we may have to shut down. We can’t continue to take care of all of this and the animals,” Gallo said, starting to tear up. “I’ve put 25 years of my life into this place. It’ll be heartbreaking. It’ll be heartbreaking to every single person in here, every staff member, every volunteer, all of our supporters that are out there that have done everything they can.”

How other animal rescues in the state are faring

It’s not just Heart of RI. Animal rescue facilities all over the state are straining under the weight of having more animals in their care, according to Karen Kalunian of Animal Talk.

Through Animal Talk, which has its own magazine and works with various media outlets, including The Providence Journal, Kalunian has spent years helping to get animals adopted in addition to her work with various rescues in Rhode Island.

“In the last year, year and a half, it’s been really bad, and it’s across the country, because I talk to people from all over the country,” Kalunian said. “It’s just been overwhelming. I know, for myself, with Animal Talk, every single day someone is reaching out to me – and I’m not even a rescue – to try to relinquish their dog. Can you guide me through the process? And I’ll do that, but even my connections are saying, we’re full.”

Kristen Peralta, of Vintage Pet Rescue, which only works with senior pets, said she’s been getting a lot more surrender requests, sometimes as many as five a day. She’s now up to 27 dogs in her care.

The Potter League for Animals, in Middletown, is also seeing more animals than they have in recent years, and while adoptions for cats and kittens haven’t slowed down, adoptions for medium and large dogs have, according to executive director Brad Shear.

What might be driving the issue

Shear believes the housing crisis is likely at play, as when it was a renter’s market landlords were more likely to make exceptions for dogs. Not so now. Another factor is that accessing veterinary care has become more difficult.

“We run the largest spay and neuter clinic in the state. During COVID, we had to close and cancel over 500 appointments. We rescheduled those appointments, but we continue to be behind, and private veterinarians aren't doing as many elective procedures, which include spaying and neutering,” Shear wrote in an email. “This means more unaltered animals are in our communities because of a lack of surgical capacity.”

In other words, more puppies.

How to help

Donations help, Gallo said. Food alone is costing Heart or RI about $1,500 a week, she said. Volunteers are always appreciated. Fostering a pet in your own home, even if it’s just for a week, Gallo said, does wonders to lower the stress level in the shelters and help teach the animals how to behave in a home.

But what Gallo really hopes is that more people will come to adopt.

In recent years, Peralta said, the mentality has become “shop, don’t adopt” a flip of the tagline rescues want prospective pet owners to think.

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“We see more people going to breeders to get French bulldogs and doodles, and it's exhausting,” Peralta said.

What Heart of RI wants people to know is that there are plenty of great dogs at the shelters, puppies, purebreds and mixed breeds that were surrendered through no fault of their own.

If your family is ready, this is the time to adopt, Gallo said.

“Everybody needs to be a little open-minded, because the dog that you might be looking for is more often than not the dog that you go home with,” she said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI animal rescues seek adopters with more animals in their care