RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond Animal Care and Control is experiencing a surge in strays and aggressive dogs at the Chamberlayne Avenue shelter.
RACC Director Christie Chipps-Peters posted a plea for help from the public on their Facebook pageon Monday.
“For months we have been struggling to keep up with the increase in stray dogs (that magically appeared after COVID), a huge uptick in the number of bite calls, court cases for cruelty and neglect and an overall growing number of aggressive dogs,” she wrote.
Chipps-Peters said she’s never seen the situation at the shelter this bad in her nearly decade as director.
Her team receives at least 20 calls and messages from pet owners seeking to surrender their animals. Those calls are local, out of state and from other shelters.
The most common reason given for surrendering pets is the owner is moving and cannot bring their animal with them.
RACC is also the point of contact for the Richmond Sheriff’s Office whenever there is an eviction with animals present.
“When people are evicted from their houses, which people don't often think about, we get their animals if they can't take them. That easily happens two to five times a week,” the director added. “We’re seeing an increase in people that can't afford to live where they live. So, they have to move and they don't have anywhere to take their pets.”
RACC is discovering some pets adopted or purchased over the pandemic have not been appropriately socialized.
“We can't take a chance on someone else getting hurt as badly as they have already hurt someone. It's heartbreaking because essentially these dogs are sitting in these cages waiting for their court dates or waiting for their bite quarantine to end just to be euthanized,” Chipps-Peters explained. “Our staff is feeding them and caring for them. They have their 10 days here and then their time is up.”
The shelter staff encourages the community to help out and consider adopting or fostering from their local facility. Attempt to find alternative housing for your animal before reaching out to the shelter.
Most importantly, Christie said, that the shelter should be considered a last resort for your pet.
