By Michael Boriero
Refuge le Château, a non-profit organization in Sherbrooke housing abandoned kittens, cats and other small animals, noticed a significant increase in pet abandonment well before Quebec’s province-wide move-in date on July 1.
“There’s like 50 per cent more abandoned pets, especially kittens and cats, but we also received a lot of rabbits, birds, lizards, and other kinds of animals. We still have a lot of animals coming in on July 1, but this year is just more than past years,” said Anne-Marie Viens-Larin.
Viens-Larin volunteers at the pet rescue. The organization also hosts several chickens, squirrels, and turtles. According to Viens-Larin, the uptick in abandoned kittens and cats could be a result of pet owners failing to get their animals sterilized throughout the pandemic.
“We can never say this enough, but people should sterilize their cats. I heard a lot of people who bring in their female and they told me ‘well, my female wasn’t supposed to go outside, she got out once and she came back pregnant,’ and I’m like ‘yeah, it takes one shot,” she said.
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