Dog abandonment becomes growing problem – animal welfare advocate: “People commit weakly to pets”

Animal welfare associations report a significant increase in dogs needing rehoming across Finland. The associations receive daily calls from owners wanting to give up their pets, citing reasons such as addiction problems and weak commitment to pets. A new trend is the arrival of large numbers of dogs at once.

The number of dogs needing new homes has multiplied in recent years, according to Heli Nousiainen, a long-time activist and former chair of the Central Finland Animal Welfare Association. The association receives inquiries from dog owners almost weekly.

“Previously, there were only a few dogs needing homes each year, but now there can be dozens of cases,” Nousiainen says.

The Central Finland Animal Welfare Association collaborates with authorities, such as supervisory veterinarians. Volunteers help find care placements for dogs whose owners can no longer care for them. The association receives requests for help from all over Finland. A new trend is that multiple dogs may come from the same location.

“For example, recently we received a request from another part of Finland where we needed to find care placements for about 20 dogs,” Nousiainen says.

Laura Mäkelä, a supervisory veterinarian at the Keurusselkä Environmental and Health Protection Office, confirms that in some cases, nearly ten dogs have been found at a single location.

“In these situations, it is often about puppy farming,” Mäkelä says.

However, she is more concerned about cats, which may be found in hundreds at a single location.

In Jyväskylä, the environmental and health protection area has two supervisory veterinarians, one of whom is Mikko Kananen. He reports that the veterinarians receive about 300 animal welfare reports annually. In a third of these cases, an inspection was conducted last year. Over 50 cases resulted in temporary care, sale, or euthanasia of the animal.

“The situation has taken a strange turn. Previously, we guided people in animal care or issued orders. Nowadays, we have to quickly find care placements for the animals,” Kananen says.

According to Kananen, this means that the owner is temporarily or permanently unable to care for the animal.

“The reason for this is the increasing use of drugs,” he says.

The Jyväskylä area has not had cases where large numbers of dogs have come from the same location at once.

The phenomenon is nationwide

Animal welfare associations confirm that the increase in dogs needing rehoming is a nationwide phenomenon.

Minna Monto, the deputy director of Rekku Rescue ry, says that dogs are offered to them more than ever before.

“Almost every day, one or more dogs are offered. They also come through supervisory veterinarians, even entire litters at once,” Monto says.

Heidi Vuorio, chair of the Hämeenlinna Animal Welfare Association, says that the phenomenon has grown in the past six months. More dogs have been placed than at any time in the past five years.

“Most of the dogs come to us through supervisory veterinarians from all over Finland,” Vuorio says.

According to Monto, the most common reasons for giving up dogs are that a puppy has grown into a challenging dog without training, or the owner has financial or health problems. Young people are prominent among callers.

In Monto’s opinion, the association’s phone calls reveal that people are currently weakly committed to pets.

“When problems arise with the dog or veterinary costs, people want to get rid of the animal,” Monto says.

People’s financial situation has previously been seen in the need to give up pets. Yle news report from 2024:

Source: Yle