MILWAUKEE — Though they may be talked about more often, dogs and cats aren’t the only type of pets overflowing at animal shelters.
Pete Neureuther has worked at Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission, or MADACC, for nearly two decades.
When people are searching for their lost dog or cat, he said MADACC is usually one of the first places they go. That usually isn’t the case for small animals like rabbits or guinea pigs, said Neureuther.
“A huge part is we get no one coming in to reclaim their missing rabbits. We had a guy reclaim his missing ferret last month. That was exciting for us because really when it comes to small animals, they make it here and then we just have to deal with it,” said Neureuther. “It’s not like a cat or a dog where people are actively looking for their missing cats or dogs.”
He said there has been an uptick in small animals showing up at the county shelter since the end of the pandemic.
“It’s probably been like two years since we hit a point where we just had to offer our own adoption program for them. We had no other alternative, because we don’t euthanize here for time or space or anything like that,” he said. “So instead of just sitting in our cages indefinitely hoping that a rescue can help us out, we just get them out ourselves.”
He said life has changed since people were quarantined during COVID.
“During the pandemic, people are home so they could get small animals, they can take care of them,” he said. “Now, they go back to work and do they want to come home and have to clean a cage all the time?”
He said another part of the problem is economic hardship.
“A lot of it is financial — prices of everything have gone up,” he said.
Neureuther said the best way to help is to encourage people to adopt from a shelter rather than a pet store. He said all of MADACC’s small animals are medically vetted, spayed or neutered and adoption fees are low.