Timmins animal shelter dealing with 'extremely high' number of surrendered pets

The Timmins and District Humane Society is finding itself at full capacity and low on resources, after a shocking surge in animal surrenders this past week.

Executive director Lynn Michaud said while the summer is typically a busy season, seeing more than 50 pet surrenders in just one week is far from normal.

"We've had like 11 puppies come in, we had four dogs come on at one point. In two days, we had 31 cats come in, requiring our care," said Michaud, a past director of the shelter who returned to the role this year.

"The numbers, typically where it's one to two per person, have actually been a larger number from singular families."

People have also surrendered bunnies and other small animals, Michaud said, with reasons for the surrenders varying from financial trouble to domestic disputes.

Michaud said the shelter is now at full capacity, not including spaces it needs to keep open for animal control, and has been forced to triage its intake.

"For example, someone has a child that's all of a sudden really, dangerously allergic to their pet ... or they have an animal that's extremely ill. Those are priority cases, versus someone who maybe isn't able to provide care for their animal, but they can hold onto them for a few weeks, while we sort out the pressure points," she said.

The humane society is appealing to the community for food, supplies and cash donations to help care for all of these new animals.

Michaud said if the situation worsens, she'll have to seek help from other area shelters, but added many also reporting limited space.