Sudbury animal shelter sees spike in number of people surrendering pets

A local organization that cares for animals in Sudbury is continuing to deal with high numbers of animals at its shelter.

Pet Save said Monday that more and more people are surrendering their animals each day. Director Jill Pessot said the latest count is alarming.

“We have about 40 dogs and over 20 puppies, and we have about 150 cats and about 40 kittens,” Pessot said.

“The sad part is we have so many being handed back after (the COVID-19) pandemic that people had gotten out in the public and they’ve returned to work. They’ve had life changes.”

Pessot said due to the large influx of animals and not enough space, the shelter has had to reach out to local boarding kennels, which comes at a high cost.

“Because our facility only houses 14 dogs, we’ve had to actually pay boarding at two kennels in Val Caron since Christmas,” said Pessot. “Our boarding bill last month alone was $9,000.”

She said each day, she has to turn down five to six surrenders, and she’s finding the dogs people are abandoning have very limited training.

“You took on the responsibility of a dog, let’s try some training, get it socialized start putting some work into it," she said.

"If you put a few months of hard work into your dog, it’ll be a great pet."

Pet Save is currently looking for more volunteers, as well as dog and cat treats, along with blankets and toys.