Mission Valley Animal Shelter sees increase of ‘owner surrender’ dogs

PABLO — The Mission Valley Animal Shelter (MVAS) is now open to the public and is full of dogs and cats waiting to find a home. One of the ripple effects of COVID-19 is that the majority of dogs at the shelter are owner surrenders. Most of the dogs in the shelter are there because families moved to Montana and were unable to find a home where they could keep their animals, or because families' landlords increased their rent, leading families to find another home where they could not keep their animals.

“We have been so overloaded with owner surrenders for the last six months, we don't even have room for strays,” MVAS manager Ravea Corkill said. MVAS currently has more than 20 owner surrender dogs on its waiting list. It has been different this year for MVAS because they normally are teeming with stray animals. “It's been nuts," Corkill said.

According to Corkill, roughly 60 percent of people who come into the shelter said, "We just moved here and can't find a place for our dog."

Read the full story at Char-Koosta News.