San Jose animal shelters overwhelmed

By Dylan Newman STAFF WRITER

Thousands of animals are in need of homes across San Jose’s shelters and animal foster care services.

The high number of stray and owner-surrendered animals adopted during the pandemic influenced the adoption rate in many San Jose’s animal shelters.

Melissa Lisbon, CEO of Silicon Valley Pet Project, said people across the nation have moved out of the house after the pandemic, which has led to some pet owners to no longer have the time to adequately care for the animal, resulting in their surrender to a local animal shelter.

Silicon Valley Pet Project is a nonprofit organization in San Jose arranging foster homes and adoptions for pets in need, according to its website.

“It’s a bit of a crisis at the moment and a lot of it has to do with the fact that there are a lot of animals that are being surrendered to areas shelters,” Lisbon said. “It’s been really tough on all of our shelters, but the San Jose shelter is definitely struggling with the number of animals that they have to care for.”

She said stormy conditions, such as the recent atmospheric rivers, have impacted animal intake in shelters as inclement weather delays the amount of potential stray animals found around the city.

Lisbon also said springtime is considered kitten season.

“What [kitten season] means is there’s a time like in the spring, where stray cats who are community cats, cats that have not been altered, are having kittens out in the community –and usually people are finding them and bringing them into the shelter and with the storms that we’ve had, that’s not been happening as much.” Lisbon said. “It’s just delayed the onslaught of kittens coming in.”

“Altering” or “fixing” animals is the process of spay and neuter, which is the surgical removal of the animals’ ability to reproduce.

Local shelters, including the San Jose Animal Care Center, practice trapping, neutering and releasing stray cats back to their colonies where they are found.

The cats are released after they have been microchipped and had the tip of their ear clipped off as identification.

The San Jose Animal Care

Center is a city-run organization that provides shelter and field services for animals in San Jose, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Mi lpitas and Saratoga, according to its website.

Last spring, the San Jose Animal Care Center was overwhelmed with the amount of stray kittens births because of understaffing, according to a May 25, 2022 San Jose Spotlight article.

A continuous issue that contributes to overcrowding animal welfare nationwide. The organization estimates that about 10,000 puppy mills keep 500,000 dogs captive for the purpose of breeding across the country, producing 2.6 million puppies annually.

Oftentimes, the parent dogs are killed or abandoned when they longer can breed, according to the Humane Society of the United States’ website.

“Puppies are a lot of work and that may have been easier to manage when people were may be experiencing an increase in surrendered animals, the majority of shelters are facing a backlog caused by fewer adoptions. When adoptions are low, animals wait longer in shelters, causing the population to increase over time,” according to an email from the Humane Society of the United States.

Although the amount of surrenders is lower than the pre-pandemic level, the rate of adoption has been on the decline, according to the on its website.

In a report from July 2022 to this March, 339 animals were surrendered by owners to the shelter, including 101 cats, 139 dogs and 99 animals listed under “other” and 4395 more animals were taken in as strays. A “stray” animal is defined by the report as “animals brought in by members of the public with no apparent owner.” in animal shelters are puppy mills, a breeding practice where mother dogs are kept in cages for the purpose of making more puppies, which are sometimes delivered with a variety of health complications, according to the Humane Society of the United States’ website.

Over 3,301 animals, including 1,956 cats, 1,134 dogs and 211 other animals, were adopted or transferred to a rescue organization during the same July to March time period.

The Humane Society of the United States is a nonprofit organization that focuses on at home, but as things have normalized, schedules are changing,” Lisbon said. “These dogs are now young adults that require care and exercise and mental stimulation.”

The popularity of purchasable puppies that may or may not have come from mills, resulted in fewer adoptions from shelters.

“While some communities

Melissa Lisbon Silicon Valley Pet Project CEO

Humane Society of the United States email.

“In terms of economic impacts, the lack of pet-friendly, affordable housing has been a long-time driver of pet surrenders and an issue that we are committed to changing,” according to the same email.

San Jose publicly shares the Animal Care Centers’ data and usage statistics through a report

Last year, during the observed period of July 2021 through June 2022, 12,139 stray animals and 835 owner surrenders were brought into the shelter. 7,133 animals were adopted or transferred to a rescue facility, which is more than 5,000 fewer animals that left the facility adopted.

People looking to adopt an animal can browse on San Jose’s pet adoption website.

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