Rufus loves taking in the sun as he recovers from major surgery. The border collie cross came into our care from a northern community with a gunshot wound to one of his hind legs, an injury that required amputation. Despite his heartbreaking journey, Rufus has kind eyes and an affectionate personality. He loves nothing more than relaxing on a bed while the sun shines down on him, especially if there is someone nearby who can offer scratches under his chin.
Rufus is one of approximately 350 dogs to come into our care so far in 2024 — a staggering number for just 10 months. However, the number of dogs is just one factor impacting our budget this year. Many of the animals have remained in our care for many months due to pressures being felt by the entire animal welfare community. We rely on our sheltering partners to find homes for the animals we take in, but most shelters are at or near capacity. This means the dogs we take in are staying with us much longer than is ideal for the animal, and at a significant cost to our organization.
As a result, we’ve reached an unfortunate milestone. We have spent more than one million dollars on animal care (shelter and veterinary costs only) so far in 2024. That’s more than double what we spent over the same period last year. This is a significant increase in costs for an organization like ours that relies on donations from generous Albertans to help care for the animals we save.
Our team here is working hard to find long-term solutions to the animal crisis in Alberta. In the meantime, we encourage those families who are looking to add a new canine member to their family to adopt, not shop. When you adopt an animal from a shelter, you are helping not only that pet, you’re also freeing up space at the shelter for another animal, like Rufus, who can be moved from a caretaking facility to a shelter, where they can be connected with a loving family.