Pet adoptions down, surrenders up

RUMFORD — Marsha McKenna is worried as the kitten season approaches.

Adoptions have been down for several years, but have been particularly bad since the beginning of the recession.

"Adoptions have been terrible," said McKenna, owner of McKennel's Animal Adoption Agency.

She said the drop in adoptions likely started when gasoline went to $4 a gallon and the price for pet food and supplies increased as well.

"If adoptions are terrible now, and you put a picture in the the local paper (for a cat that needs a home) and you don't get one call, what do you do?" she asked.

She said the number of adoptions for both cats and dogs has dropped to about one a month, when five or six other pets come into the shelter during the same period of time.

Compounding the decline in adoptions is the increased number of people who are abandoning their pets. Some are surrendered because the family can no longer care for them.
Others are dumped along the sides of roads or near the Hall Hill animal shelter.

One of McKenna's neighbors brought in a skinny, orange, long-haired cat that was named Bumble Cat that had been dumped on the road and was living under the garage. Bumble Cat is now groomed and fed and is ready for adoption.

By June, McKenna will be swamped with litters of kittens.

Sometimes complete litters are dropped on a roadside, sometimes they are left in the shelter's driveway during the middle of the night.

Dogs, too, have been found tied to a tree in front of the shelter, when McKenna comes into work in the morning.

Adoption fees have remained the same through the years — $25 for cats and $35 for dogs.

Eileen M. Adams/Sun Journal

Marsha McKenna, owner of McKennel's Animal Adoption Agency, holds two male, neutered cats that have been at the shelter for several months. Rocky and Bumble Cat had been abandoned and are now up for adoption.