MILWAUKEE — Though they might be spoken about more frequently, dogs and cats aren’t the only kind of family pets overruning at animal shelters.
What You Need To Know
- Dogs and cats aren’t the only animals overruning at shelters. Small animals like bunnies and guinea pigs are too.
- Pete Neureuther of MADACC said that’s because lots of people aren’t pertaining to recover the smaller sized animals
- He said they have actually seen an uptick of them being available in given that the pandemic
- Economic challenge is another reason that some aren’t embracing as lots of little animals any longer
Pete Neureuther has actually operated at Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission, or MADACC, for almost twenty years.
When individuals are looking for their lost dog or cat, he said MADACC is generally among the top places they go. That generally isn’t the case for little animals like bunnies or guinea pigs, said Neureuther.
“A huge part is we get no one coming in to reclaim their missing rabbits. We had a guy reclaim his missing ferret last month. That was exciting for us because really when it comes to small animals, they make it here and then we just have to deal with it,” said Neureuther. “It’s not like a cat or a dog where people are actively looking for their missing cats or dogs.”
(Spectrum News 1/Wendy Strong)
He said there has actually been an uptick in little animals appearing at the county shelter given that completion of the pandemic.
“It’s probably been like two years since we hit a point where we just had to offer our own adoption program for them. We had no other alternative, because we don’t euthanize here for time or space or anything like that,” he said. “So instead of just sitting in our cages indefinitely hoping that a rescue can help us out, we just get them out ourselves.”
He said life has actually altered given that individuals were quarantined throughout COVID.
“During the pandemic, people are home so they could get small animals, they can take care of them,” he said. “Now, they go back to work and do they want to come home and have to clean a cage all the time?”
(Spectrum News 1/Wendy Strong)
He said another part of the issue is financial challenge.
“A lot of it is financial — prices of everything have gone up,” he said.
Neureuther said the very best method to help is to motivate individuals to adopt from a shelter instead of an animal store. He said all of MADACC’s little animals are clinically vetted, made sterile or neutered and adoption charges are low.
