“They arrive with their dogs, without an appointment, without anything. “At the SPA, in Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone (Hérault), Annie Bénézech, is disappointed. For several months, the director has been witnessing an almost incessant ballet of indelicate families, who knock on the door of the shelter to abandon their doggies there. As elsewhere, in France, the Montpellier SPA deplores a boom in animal abandonment of 30 to 40%, compared to last year, at the same period. And it is indeed inflation that is in question, points out the association.
Because to the long list of products whose prices have soared, are added croquettes, whose prices have increased by 10 to 20% in recent months. “Unfortunately,” laments Annie Bénézech, this skyrocketing increase is pushing some owners of dogs or cats, taken by the throat, to part with their animals. “They explain to us that they can no longer buy them kibble, that they can no longer maintain them, says Annie Bénézech. We also have quite a few old, sick dogs that are abandoned at the shelter. People tell us “veterinarian costs, we can’t do it anymore”. So when it’s possible, “we postpone drop-outs by a month or two”.
“We can’t push the walls”, at the SPA
The problem is that the adoptions of dogs or cats, if they leave “a little” in recent weeks, they do not increase as quickly as the abandonments, continues Annie Bénézech. Some families, faced with the crisis, decide, moreover, to cancel or postpone the adoptions that they had, for a time, considered. The Montpellier SPA is thus faced with a sudden overcrowding, “which is very complicated”, points out the director of the refuge. “We can’t push the walls… And the more animals we have, the more it costs. And we too are affected by the rise in the price of kibble, veterinary care, but also electricity…”
The Montpellier SPA is therefore appealing for donations to deal with this unprecedented situation. A simple regular donation of five euros per month (66% tax deductible) allows the Hérault shelter to welcome the many new residents who scratch at the association’s door, and to meet the skyrocketing costs. Because it’s urgent. In a little over two months, it’s summer. The worst season for dropouts. “I fear that the abandonments of the summer will start again, I do not think that the French have changed, unfortunately, their behavior”, deplores Annie Bénézech.