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Influx of surrendered dogs at Sudbury shelter

Officials at Pet Save in Sudbury say many people got dogs throughout the pandemic who were not prepared or aware of the needs of different breeds. Aug.1/21 (Alan Everson/CTV News Northern Ontario) Officials at Pet Save in Sudbury say many people got dogs throughout the pandemic who were not prepared or aware of the needs of different breeds. Aug.1/21 (Alan Everson/CTV News Northern Ontario)
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SUDBURY -

Sudbury charity, Pet Save, says it is now full to capacity with surrendered dogs.

Officials said many people got dogs throughout the pandemic who were not prepared or aware of the needs of different breeds.

Now volunteers are working with the animals to get them socialized and adoptable to the right person.

Beau is a 2-year-old Black Mouth Cur that was surrendered because of behavioural issues.

It's a trend the organization says it's seeing more of in the pandemic.

"Since covid began we've seen a huge influx in pet ownership and covid brought challenges you couldn't hire trainers, you couldn't get your dog socialized properly," said Jill Pessott, Pet Save's executive director.

"So we are seeing a lot of the effects of that now."

Gary Bassett is a volunteer who spends hours socializing and training surrenders.

"They've got anxiety issues they haven't been socialized. They were taken in as pets or playmates for their children and now that the covid is ending we are getting the dogs that are damaged," said Bassett.

As new dog owners prepare to go back to work in the pandemic Pet Save has some advice to help the dogs socialize to the change in routine.

"They have to think about the dogs mental health and now as people transition back to work we need to be very careful how we do that or we could end up seeing a huge influx of anxiety dogs," said Pessott.

"So we are urging people to start that practising now of leaving their pets alone for 15 minutes at a time and working their way up to several hours taking it slow."

The organizatoin is emphasizing crate training as something that needs to be gradually introduced.

"We don't want to see dogs just stuffed in a crate you know the day you are going to go back to work for eight hours because that will create those anxiety dogs," continued Pessott.

 

Right now officials are looking for experienced fosters to help socialize and train the dogs with behavioural issues to prepare them for adoption.

 

Of late, Pet Save says it's been forced to turn away new surrenders because it's full to capacity.

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