More people are surrendering their pets — and local animal shelters are pleading for help

A Greater Toronto Area animal shelter is turning to the community for support, saying its facility is at capacity as more and more pets are being surrendered.

The Oakville Milton Humane Society is appealing to donors to help fund care for the 131 animals, including 38 dogs, it has in its shelter. The shelter says it has also seen an increase in demand for its food bank, which provides pet meals to owners struggling financially.

Lisa Bennett, the shelter's customer care team lead, says the situation is so critical with costs increasing for their programs that one donor has pledged to match every dollar donated to the organization up to $5,000 by July 31.

"Most of the dogs that we have in our care right now are COVID dogs," she said.

Pet surrenders have increased since COVID-19 restrictions eased, with many owners dropping their animals off at shelters across the province. Some have even abandoned pets in parks.

Bennett says as people return to work, many owners no longer have time to provide care for animals they adopted while working from home during the pandemic.

Another reason, Bennett tells CBC Toronto, is that many owners have told the shelter they can no longer afford to care for an animal due to the rising cost of living in Ontario.

Denise Angus, who founded and runs Mattie's Place, a Toronto-based dog and cat rescue organization, says she's noticed a similar trend at their food bank.

"We have lineups around the block on our pet food date," said Angus, who adds they feed around 1,200 dogs a month.

But it's the surrenders that distress her most. Angus says she receives 20 to 30 emails a day from owners looking for a place to permanently drop off their pet.

"It's heartbreaking... and as a volunteer, it really shakes you to the core," said Angus.

She says Mattie's Place typically rescues 200 to 300 dogs a year, but they've recently had to dial that back.

"Fosters are down, donations are down, adoptions are down," said Angus.

That means many of the dogs rescued are still waiting for a home.