Pandemic drives demand for puppies during Edmonton's dog days of summer
Erin Reid's family has two dogs but feel they've enough love and room for another, if they can find one.
The St. Albert family has been considering adding a third dog for the past year. A month ago, Reid began searching rescue agencies and was surprised with what she discovered.
"Every single one that we went to, it was just, 'No dogs are available,'" she told CBC News Thursday.
"One of the ladies I talked to, she said, 'It's like trying to win the lottery,' and that's exactly what it feels like."
The Reids aren't picky. They're hoping to get a medium-size female dog and have applied to adopt at least a dozen so far.
"I believe it's because people have more time on their hands because of COVID so now is the time that they want to adopt that dog they've been wishing for," Reid said.
The Edmonton Humane Society and local dog breeders say they're being hounded by people keen to add a four-legged member to their family.
A visit to the society's adoptions web page yields few results. Early Thursday afternoon only two dogs were available for adoption. By 4 p.m., they were spoken for.
"The situation is certainly unique with COVID-19 so it's difficult to compare with what normal would be," said EHS spokesperson Kylie Adams.
"There's certainly a steady demand for animals, which is great news," Adams said.
"We've certainly heard of many families that were home, were not going on vacations this summer, so they're around to help new pets adjust."
Another factor may be convenience, Adams said. With people no longer able to come into the shelter due to the pandemic, the society has turned to the internet.
"What will happen is an animal will get posted on the website; we'll receive a request rather quickly and then that animal is taken off the website while we process that adoption," she said.
The demand is also felt by reputable breeders who charge a premium for their puppies.
Sonia Nelson owns Hearty K9s near Wetaskiwin where they've bred the popular goldendoodles for 16 years. It's a big operation with several sets of parents.
"We have anywhere between nine to 12 litters in a year and the average has been seven or eight puppies per litter," Nelson said.
She only breeds them once a year and has no plans to change that.
"I let them have a rest, even if there is a lot of demand right now. I just say, 'Sorry, I'm not going to compromise my dogs for any reason,'" she said.
At the beginning of the year, Nelson had a backlog of puppies available for the first time, but that has changed.
"I have right now, 42 deposits for puppies that aren't even born yet or not even bred yet," she said.
It's a similar situation for Shannon Grabill who runs Tricklecreek Clumber Spaniels in Spruce Grove. Despite being an extremely rare breed, she has also seen demand skyrocket.
"We've had an actual 60-per-cent increase of people visiting our website and then our Facebook page. I've had many people message me and that's drastically increased as well," she said.
Potential customers tell Grabill, they now have time to care for a dog.
"Because they're home a lot more due to the pandemic, they feel that this is the right time to add that additional family member," she said.
Grabill's operation is small, her dogs having one litter of seven or eight puppies per year, but that hasn't stopped people from trying to get one.
"I think I have 30 to 50 applications sitting on my desk right now," she said.
The humane society and breeders are quick to caution people looking for a pet, warning adopters to be wary of scammers who are well aware of the high demand.
"You're going to get a lot of people that are not breeders, that are going to start breeding dogs just to make money," Grabill said. "They're going to jeopardize the mother's health; they won't do any testing for the pups."
That worries Terra MacLean who's with Second Chance Animal Rescue Society, where many unwanted and neglected dogs end up.
"A lot of people get frustrated or try once or twice and then [resort] to look for purchasing a dog from unreputable breeders," she said.
Backyard breeders are far different from reputable, established breeders, MacLean said.
"They just sell them to make the money," she said. "Unfortunately it's encouraging more people to breed dogs for poor reasons."
MacLean and EHS advise people to be patient as there are homeless dogs brought to the facilities daily.
That's what Reid intends to do.
"I'm just going to persevere," she said. "I don't want to support puppy mills so that's off the table for me. It will be rescue or nothing."
