Animal shelter at capacity
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on August 15, 2024.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
The Lethbridge Animal Shelter is at capacity and no longer taking in healthy animals.
Community Animal Services has posted on its website that the intake is suspended until further notice and that intake and response by enforcement officers is restricted to dangerous dogs and found stray pets in immediate distress.
The website states that a consistent increase in the numbers of animals being turned over to the shelter has impacted its ability to maintain an appropriate capacity for care level.
“Overcrowded conditions lead to illness, more stress on the animals and staff, and a backlog of pets to be adopted,” says the shelter which is operating under a managed intake.
This “is a model that has been adopted by a majority of animal care and control facilities in North America and is supported by the Fear Free Shelters Program and the National Animal Care and Control Association. Prioritizing intake and managing the population within the shelter provides a less stressful environment, reduces the spread of illness, and allows the animal care team to spend more time providing direct care and enrichment activities to each individual cat or dog,” says the facility.
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