(Saving Grace Animal Society/ Facebook)

By Ian Gustafson

Unprecedented numbers

Saving Grace Animal Society overwhelmed following influx of animals in January

Jan 8, 2025 | 12:54 PM

Saving Grace Animal Society is seeing an unprecedented number of animals brought into their care since the start of the new year.

Through the first week of January, the animal rescue located in Alix, Alta., took in 52 animals, which is a 35 per cent increase from their average last year in a week’s timeframe.

Executive Director, Erin Deems, said the recent cold weather has led to a lot more calls than usual.

Of course, when it’s colder outside those calls are more urgent and a lot of them have needed emergency medical attention.

“We’re really tight on space because these animals really need us,” she said.

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“The calls have just been insane. To have rescued 52 animals in just a short week would bring us close to 3,000 animals rescued in a year if we keep up that rate. That’s 35 per cent more than we rescued last year.

“We’re not really sure where we’re going to find the capacity or the finances to keep up at this rate, so we’re hoping it does slow down, but there’s no end in sight right now.”

As soon as the temperature drops every year, Deems said the call level does increase for them to take animals in, but not typically at this level.

The reason for the rise, she believes, is the impact the economy has had on people, especially through the holiday season when money is tied up in Christmas festivities.

Because of that, a lot of pet owners are surrendering their furry friends to rescues or sometimes even abandoning them.

“We’re getting a lot of surrender requests from people, but we’re also seeing the emergency cases where their dog just had puppies and now they’re outside freezing,” she said.

“Or last week we had a cat in a trash bag that somebody had thrown away in a dumpster. People are going to extreme measures, and obviously when it’s an extreme case, we will always find the room.

“We’ve rescued 52 animals, but if we took in every animal we’ve got a call for, we would be well over 150. We’re getting 10-15 surrender requests per day.”

Deems explained it’s important to spay and neuter your pets to prevent situations like this. In addition, for those looking to adopt, it’s essential to make sure you’re able to care for it for its entire life, both physically and financially.

For those who want to help, the Saving Grace Animal Society is looking for people to adopt these animals or even foster them until the shelter can find them a permanent home. Fostering an animal is a short-term commitment — as short as two weeks.

They’re also looking for donations, both monetary and other items such as food.

“The first quarter of the year for every charity is always the hardest, so we are a little scared with how the first week of January has gone,” she added.

For more information of how to donate, adopt, or fill out an adoption application, visit their website at savinggracecanada.com.