SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Animal dumping and abandonment in our area is worse than ever before, according to local animal outreach groups.
There are issues, particularly during the summer, which is commonly known as kitten season. Organizations and shelters are seeing injured animals, animals with infections, and more.
Sara Williams found a bucket of crying kittens abandoned inside a park bathroom in Antelope.
“I shouldn’t be hearing this because I could hear them as soon as I got out of my car,” said Williams.
As the founder of Rio Linda Feral Help Group, Williams said these are the kinds of calls she gets three or four times a month.
“This year has been horrendous, I’ve never seen it so bad. We see a lot of injuries,” said Williams.
She's currently taking care of multiple kittens, but it’s not just local groups getting the calls about abandoned animals this time of year.
Ryan Hinderman with the Front Street Animal Shelter has already taken in more than 1,300 kittens this year.
“Especially with this warm weather, they breed and we just get out there in the community... our shelters and other great local organizations just really struggle to keep up with the sheer number born out there and needing help,” Hinderman said.
The issue is many cats are not spayed and neutered -- whether house cats, cats in colonies, or there wasn’t access to programs during the pandemic -- and now organizations are feeling the impact.
“We are not able to fix all of the kittens that come to us, so we rely on offsite spay and neuter services, but there is such a huge demand not only from shelters but from the community,” said Hinderman.
The current wait time for spay and neuter services is four to six weeks. Another contributing factor to this issue is the veterinary shortage.
