Calgary Humane Society calls for more dog adoptions, kennels full for more than a week

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 16, 2025 1:04 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

The Calgary Humane Society is calling for much canine adoptions as it grapples with capableness issues. 

The carnal structure says its canine kennels person been afloat for much than a week. Anna-Lee Fitzsimmons, manager of nationalist relations astatine the Calgary Humane Society, says the structure has been leaning connected placing dogs successful foster attraction arsenic it struggles to support abstraction for the animals.

"The champion happening that we tin spot hap close present is an summation successful adoptions, which allows america to evidently spot these animals into semipermanent homes and past escaped up abstraction successful our structure truthful that we tin proceed to intake the dogs that are connected our waitlist," she said.

In the past week, 12 dogs were adopted from the non-profit organization. Fitzsimmons says while the structure is processing canine adoptions arsenic efficiently arsenic it can, it hasn't been capable to meaningfully trim its waitlist.

"Every clip we get 1 canine adopted, there's 2 much astatine our door that request to travel successful and instrumentality its place," she said, adding determination are usually 27 dogs astatine the shelter available for adoption.

"Right present we conscionable can't look to get up of the problem... There is ne'er an bare kennel."

The Calgary Humane Society cares for astir 45 dogs astatine immoderate fixed time, including those that aren't yet acceptable to beryllium adopted.

An additional 25 to 40 dogs are placed successful foster attraction to assistance alleviate capableness issues astatine the shelter, and determination are dozens of dogs connected the waitlist to come into the facility.

Fitzsimmons says immoderate dogs request surgery, behavioural involution oregon a antithetic benignant of attraction earlier they tin beryllium listed for adoption. 

The structure is besides tackling its capableness occupation done its "sleepover" program, which allows radical reasoning of adopting a canine to bring 1 location for up to a week.

"If determination is somebody, oregon a family, who's possibly considering adopting, but perhaps they're not rather definite if it would acceptable into their manner oregon they're conscionable a small spot tense to take the plunge and really motion an adoption contract, they would beryllium invited to participate," Fitzsimmons says.

Typically the program would lone use to dogs that person been disposable for adoption for more than 30 days, but fixed the shelter's capableness problem, it's permitting imaginable adopters any disposable canine for the proceedings period.

"The sleepover programme is wholly escaped of charge," Fitzsimmons says. "We springiness you each the supplies you request for that carnal to beryllium successful.

"Obviously you person to beryllium approved for that and determination is simply a declaration involved, but we springiness you the carnal for a week, nary strings attached, nary ceremonial committedness and cost-free truthful you tin spot if it's a bully acceptable for your household and determine if it's thing you privation to perpetrate to long-term."

She adds that the organization's sleepover program can assistance to ease the load connected the shelter — adjacent if lone temporarily — portion giving hopeful canine owners a sensation of beingness with a pet.