r/arizona • u/AwarenessMassive • 2d ago
News Arizona Humane Society sounds alarm on growing pet crisis
https://ktar.com/arizona-news/pet-overpopulation-crisis/5874567/Valley philanthropist Ann Siner, the CEO of My Sister’s Attic, has pledged $600,000 to launch a major spay and neuter initiative.
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u/BasilProfessional09 2d ago
I found 5 kittens with no mama in my backyard when I moved last year. I captured them and took them to 3 animal shelters and was turned away due to overcrowding. I eventually re-homed them on Craigslist which was not ideal but I hope they are doing well.
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u/Sassybatswearinghats 2d ago
While people not spaying or neutering their pets and private companies buying up vet practices are definitely a part of the problem, I think it’s also the fact that people can’t make a living wage and the economy being bad right now doesn’t help either. Many of the people who have or want pets can no longer afford them. They end up at the shelter which is already overfilled because not many people can afford to adopt right now. It’s such a sad, messed up situation.
If you have the time and space and want a pet but can’t afford one, consider fostering. Most shelters will pay for food and medical expenses. I wish I could, but I’ve got three rescue(d) dogs already.
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u/Shady_Scientist 2d ago
Just got a new-to-us dog a few months ago from the humane society, he is medically "special" with behavior issues, cost $350.
SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR PETS
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u/gamecat89 1d ago
Yeah part of the challenge is the cost. I get that pet care is expensive - but I just adopted a cat from there and was almost 400$ back on the east coast my first cat was 50 and my second cat was 99. I don’t get the fees out here.
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u/Shady_Scientist 1d ago
I think they are stretched thin and over invested in other things.
The shelter I went to looked AMAZING, like a chill place to hangout with a coffee shop and everything, but the amount of animals and staff were few compared to what I expected, idk where the animals are if this massive place didn't keep a large inventory
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u/gamecat89 1d ago
I agree there. It is an amazing facility from what I can tell, but I was also kinda surprised at how few animals were there.
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u/duffy40oz 2d ago
It doesn’t help that the city of Phoenix shrugs its shoulders over the massive stray cat population.
Thankful that the volunteers & I all take part in getting these cats spayed & neutered to reduce the population.
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u/flowrflour Prescott 2d ago
I worked for Ann Sinner’s s other company, My Sisters Closet, 20 years ago. She would give vouchers for all employees to get their pets spayed/neutered. I still remember that and am happy to hear she is still fighting this good fight!
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u/LetSubstantial3197 2d ago
Dog breeders need to be held accountable for this.
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u/davismcgravis 2d ago
Dog breeding should just be outlawed. There are plenty of good dogs to be homed that aren’t bred
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u/taylorcwitt 2d ago
People who abandon their animals should be accountable. This isn’t happening from reputable breeders. Backyard, yes. Also, let’s stop acting like adopting is the only humane way. It isn’t for a lot of households and that’s why so many pets are returned. People aren’t always prepared for the behavioral and/or medical needs that many adoptable dogs require. I just adopted a 3-legged frenchie who has cost me more than my 2 from a reputable breeder. She has ongoing health care needs and behavioral issues (fear). A lot of people can’t and won’t take that on. Especially with the ongoing rise in vet care costs.
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u/LetSubstantial3197 2d ago
And what do those "reputable" breeders do with the puppies they can't sell?
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u/taylorcwitt 1d ago edited 1d ago
Reputable breeders typically have year long plus wait lists. There is usually a plan for each puppy before a litter is even born. Even so, if for some reason one wasn’t sold, a reputable breeder will be prepared financially and logistically to keep a puppy indefinitely if necessary.
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u/ruswestbrick 1d ago
Assuming all you said is correct, put that aside. If breeders didn’t exist people would be forced to rescue. That’s the bottom line. Pet ownership isn’t for everyone
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u/taylorcwitt 1d ago
Ethical breeding and rescue serve different functions. Shelters primarily reflect overpopulation, accidental litters, and past irresponsible breeding, not a full replacement for intentional, selective breeding. If all breeding stopped tomorrow, it wouldn’t “solve” pet ownership; it would just gradually reduce supply of predictable temperament/health lines while demand stayed.
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u/yearoftheblonde 2d ago
I would have a horde of chihuahuas at my house if I could. I love them all but I can only have 2.
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u/BoringJuiceBox 2d ago
Same, I have two rescue boys and would have at least 4 if I had the time and money.
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u/yearoftheblonde 2d ago
Tell me about it. My elderly guy is 10 and just had 8 teeth removed, $750.
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u/BoringJuiceBox 2d ago
That’s a great deal honestly, my boys got more than that removed and it was about 1200-1300 each. Cleaning alone is usually $500.
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u/sunnyfordays22 2d ago
Are these pandemic pets that people can’t handle anymore?
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u/Level9TraumaCenter 2d ago
Shit's getting expensive. People are losing their housing.
Happened back in the housing crunch, 2007-2008-ish. Found some rare breeds at the pound back then, people just didn't have any money.
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u/honey_butterflies 2d ago
too many cats aren’t spayed or neutered either. they keep getting loose. I volunteer with the City of Tempe to get those cats TNR. I also help feed the colonies. it’s very bad out there. there’s just so many stray kitties. I’ve taken in as many as I can but I still have to get some adopted out or TNR. vet care getting more expensive doesn’t help either. I take my felines to Spay & Neuter in Mesa or AZ Humane’s vet.
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u/Popular-Relation-775 1d ago
Pets have gotten insanely expensive. From vet costs and boarding to food.
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u/relentless602 1d ago
This is a cultural problem as much as anything else. Go to west Phoenix (Maryvale for example) and chat with just about any person about dogs and see how many of them will tell you they are actively breeding theirs or know someone who is.
Drive down Indian School on a Saturday and see how many trucks with puppies in cages are for sale on the side of the road. Go to neighborhoods like near 15th Avenue and Grand and see how many people let cats roam free in their neighborhood not neutered since “they want to be outside and it’s just nature”.
I volunteer at shelters and hear all the stories and all the excuses people have. The level of ignorance and “laissez faire” attitude towards companion animals is astounding and infuriating. My former barber once told me that he let his husky “go” and stopped looking for him because he escaped the backyard too many times.
This is type of shit we’re dealing with. All the animal rescue groups that serve these areas will tell you that before they can even effectively help, they sometimes have to spend hours convincing one ignorant person to “allow them” to neuter or spay just one of their pets, meanwhile their next door neighbor is actively breeding more.
It’s an un-winnable battle until people truly begin to care for animals and not just view them as property or disposable items. We as people have to be the ones to care for these animals, but too many do not feel this way and do not care what happens as they can just get another one like it’s nothing.
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u/Archiengine 2d ago
It’s the economy. The current administration is killing us, we can’t afford gas, groceries or healthcare let alone rent and mortgage. Everyone is doubling down on credit cards to survive and taking second or third jobs. We simply can’t afford pet food and care. Phoenix Craigslist is full of sweet pets people can’t afford to care for anymore. Stop voting Republican! We need to get a Bernie Sanders type at the state and federal leadership level. Someone who isn’t obsessed with greed and corruption, who will protect American interests and help the United States regain its footing, at the state level, we need to vote down ballot blue and keep the corrupt “billionaires first” bootlickers out of state office, vote for the people and for the animals.
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u/borderlandsrancher 1d ago
In the past 15 years in Arizona, I’ve taken in 6 dogs into my home. Several are not with us anymore but all were beloved “border dogs.” I have two rescues right now that I will love until they’re gone. I miss you Pico, Eva, Scout, and Olive.
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u/antilocapraaa Phoenix 2d ago
I would say unfortunately behavioral euthanasia should be more common in this situation. It’s going to be one of the easier ways to help curb the population and encourage people to S/N in general.
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u/rollenr0ck 2d ago
If you live near Mexico, check out vets there. I take my dog to San Luis and the prices are awesome, they are open 24 hours a day, and appointments aren’t necessary.
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u/NumerousResident1130 2d ago
The unpopular reality is that euthanasia is the answer. There are far too many cats and dogs for the number and breeds that can be responsibility handled. US Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that domestic cats kill about 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion small mammals each year in the lower forty-eight states. Many dog breeds are so inbred that they have insurmountable genetic health issues that lead to mounting veterinary bills and abandonment.
U.S. taxpayers and humane organizations spend an estimated $2 to $3 billion annually to operate animal shelters and fund animal control services. On a micro level, running an average urban animal shelter requires an annual budget of $3 million to $5 million, with the true cost of caring for a single shelter animal ranging from $705 to over $950.
With so many child and adult housing and health issues across the U.S., the continued spending on an overpopulation of non-homable and unwanted pets is misguided and negligent. Sending these animals across the country from shelter to shelter is a emotional failure to do what is necessary for an overpopulation of domestic animals.
I have owned dogs and cats, they lived very long and happy lives. My mother has had many dogs over the years and they too have had happy lives, after her last dog passed she saw a rescue shelter booth at her community building (retirement village fixed incomes) she explained that she was looking for a dog, but was on a fixed income so wanted a dog that didn't have health issues, but could be "middle aged". They brought her a nice dog about 6 years old, came from a hoarder. Dog was nice and well behaved, mom took her. Less than a month later dog was having health issues, took her to local animal clinic. Vet explained to my mother that he had treated this dog before (same vet shelter used) that the dog had thyroid and liver and dental problems and required medication and frequent lab tests. Mom called back the shelter, the person said yes they were aware of the issues, but they were minor and that the animal needed a home. My mother still has the dog, I pay about $250 a month for the meds because my mother can't afford it but gives the dog lots of love. I am angry when I keep seeing the shelter have their booth at retirement villages, knowing they are just pawning off dogs and cats to individuals who cant afford to keep them.
In the end there are too many dogs and cats that can't be housed, non-profits suck up tax dollars because it is a business and many dupe the public into taking animals that are sick or genetically broke. Common sense needs to be applied to the problem, and it isn't just throwing more.money at it.
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u/JuracekPark34 1d ago
It’s about time. As someone who volunteers with a rescue that works in the poorest areas of the city, so many animals are born into straight up suffering. No other way to put it. It destroys your heart and resolve to see regularly. We need low/no cost spay/neuter yesterday.
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u/Zardoz__ 23h ago
I'm cheap. All my pets have come from the pound. Puppy mills require a business license.
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u/pazuzusoze 9h ago
Get rid of backyard breeders. Chip all pets. Make people apply for pet ownership and put on file. Hold people responsible for pet abandonment.
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u/OoklaTheMok1994 Phoenix 1d ago
We need to start a licensing and insurance system for pet ownership.
Make it cost more and fewer people will have pets. Consequently the need for shelter space will drop.
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u/Embarrassed-Sun5764 2d ago
Maybe if shelters were not so demanding on their restrictions I would have a shelter cat or dog. We have 2 Pyrs in a fenced yard and 3 indoor cats. Tried to adopt prior to cat #3 and was told via virtual walkthrough of my house “I had too much stuff” “and cat will not “be safe” and I was denied. I guess being a responsible pet owner(at this address 10 years) with a fully paid for house and fully vetted animals doesn’t count. None of my animals ever went to the vet here and passed except from cancer, and we held their paws til the end-
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u/torcherred 2d ago
The Humane Society will give you a dog or cat. I walked in one day and got a puppy. They asked me nothing about whether I could care for it, whether I lived where it was allowed, other pets, kids. Nothing. An hour after I got there, I had a new dog. I am, however, familiar with the over the top requirements of some shelters and had problems previously.
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u/Embarrassed-Sun5764 2d ago
So your plea for help has now gone on deaf ears I won’t embarrass myself again to take in a shelter animal. I’m not good enough. When I got the rejection email I was devastated. We really wanted to adopt that cat-
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u/Brvcewavne 22h ago
They should set up a fund that pays people to bring animals in and spay and neuter. Let’s say $20-50 a pet. Yes pay and incentivize people that way for all the people that can’t afford it maybe they can pick up a part time gig rounding up animals to pay and neuter for some extra cash plus would cut down on the humane society needing to house and shelter 25,000 pets a year. Yes it will cost them money for the surgery plus the fee to the people bringing them in but imagine how much it would cut down on strays and overpopulation in just a few years.
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u/ChuckEweFarley 2d ago edited 21h ago
Are we sure this is real and not a cash grab? Arizona Humane Society is awfully shady.
Edit: I’d like to thank the bots of the Arizona Humane Society at this time for the downvotes.
Keep the grift alive!!!
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u/GeneMountain7128 2d ago
It's real, in this case. I was recently at the county animal care facility near Tucson, which is new and really big and really nice for what it is, and it is absolutely packed to the gills. They are scrambling every day to place overflow animals with emergency fosters
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u/ChuckEweFarley 21h ago
Thank you for a real answer. Upvoted though my experience with Arizona Humane Society was EPICALLY different.
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u/dr_mackdaddy Phoenix 2d ago
How so?
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u/torcherred 1d ago
My puppy adoption from AHS required none of that. The person who oversaw the meeting and finalized the adoption was very nice and asked me basically nothing. I told him I had a 16 year old dog who had just died so I guess that was enough. I really think you either got unlucky with who you worked with or didn’t actually go to AHS. Don’t color the whole organization with your single experience.
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u/torcherred 1d ago
I guess all the people that I know who adopted from AHS got lucky and didn’t get a bunch of questions like you did. I know other rescues ask questions, do home visits, but I have never heard of AHS doing it nor was that my experience. If you volunteer there and still get treated like that, this might be more of a personal issue.
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u/AwarenessMassive 2d ago
The Arizona Humane Society is warning of a worsening pet overpopulation crisis after taking in more than 25,000 dogs and cats in 2025, its highest intake in more than a decade.