Inflation hits animal shelters and rescues

Animal shelters and rescues are seeing the effects of inflation first-hand.

King’s Harvest Pet Rescue No Kill Shelter has seen more pet owners surrender their four-legged fur friends, causing the shelter to stop helping other shelters at the moment.

“Shelters that were pulling from down south are euthanizing more than normal because we can’t pull from them, or other shelters can’t hear from them because they’re so full,” said Vet Tech Gabrielle Weeks.

According to Weeks, adoptions for cats and dogs also have decreased drastically.

“Last month our adoptions were cut in half, so we only had 57 when we usually have about 100,” said Weeks.

President Meagan Koehler from It Takes a Village Animal Rescue and Resources said they are feeling the impact at the pump, especially since they travel out of state to help rescue animals from kill shelters.

“Our transport costs have gone through the roof. It’s higher than it’s ever been, to the point where we really started on itemizing and figuring out where our greatest transportation expenses are – if it’s back-and-forth to the vet. We’re starting to track all of that individually because we have to see where we can cut these costs,” said Koehler.

“Taking this giant RV down there with you – you know that they’re not known for being fuel-efficient so it’s something that we’ve been giving a lot of thought to. Gas prices are crazy high, and then that’s just the beginning of the way the inflation is affecting rescue.”

Celina Rippel from the Humane Society of Scott County said they’ve seen a decrease in monetary donations which makes it hard when helping out people who set up to foster their animals.

“Not only are we seeing an increase in expenses,but because we have a decrease in donations, that’s where we’re starting to see a gap. And that’s where things are starting to get a little bit harder,” said Rippel. “We supply all of the supplies that fosters would need to foster animals, so that is also a big expense for us.”