Overview:
MaxFund Dog Shelter has recently experienced an increase in dog surrenders as pet owners are unable to care for them for a variety of reasons.
Coupled-up pitbulls, Damu and Lupina, were surrendered to MaxFund dog shelter roughly a year and a half ago when their original owner was deployed. Since then, the two pitbulls have waited patiently, hoping that soon the right owner will come around to adopt them.
“It’s heartbreaking. It’s an emotional industry [to work in],” said Todd Perry, director of operations of MaxFund. “Everything they knew, they had to leave behind. They all have personalities, and when they are surrendered, they enter a different environment [where they aren’t used to].”
Other dogs are experiencing the same issue as Damu and Lupina, where they are being surrendered to the shelters, leaving the animals to deal with the consequences of being abandoned by their owners. The issue continues to rise as more pets are being surrendered to the shelters.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of pets surrendered has been increasing each year. Last year, there were 2,935 pet surrenders made to the Denver Animal Shelter. This year, there have been 1,511 pet surrenders, and the numbers are continuing to rise, according to the Department of Public Health’s marketing and communications specialist, Tammy Vigil.
“While the cost of owning a pet is a significant barrier for animal owners in the Denver community, Denver Animal Shelter data indicates that between 2019 and 2025 year-to-date, there have been 959 of those owners indicating that they have returned their pets because of personal problems or not having enough time for the animal,” Vigil said.
Perry claims it’s a combination of the rising cost of owning a pet and their medical costs. He also claims that during the pandemic, pets were being adopted, and pet owners were able to take care of them easily due to having more time to take care of them while being at home for longer periods. But since then, many have returned to their normal routines, making it difficult for some to take care of their pets.
“We’re at the stage where all the shelters across the state are overwhelmed,” Perry said. “It’s expensive [owning a pet], we are seeing a higher number of surrenders because of the medical costs. That’s been a big issue this year.”
Perry adds that these pets being surrendered isn’t good for them emotionally when they are jumping from one environment to another. This can lead to the pet having anxiety and making it hard for them to adapt to different environments. He goes on to say that space and capacity have forced them to limit the number of dogs that can be surrendered.
“Unfortunately, a lot of shelters around here don’t have the staff to take on the volume of dogs that they have,” Perry said. “That’s one of the reasons why we set our limits. We could take in another 40 dogs, but then I’ve got to have [more] staff. But, if we’re going to do sheltering the right way and to leave an impact on these dogs and to have an impact on the humans that they are going home to, then we have to maintain this capacity.”
However, even though these dogs are being surrendered at MaxFund and dealing with the emotions, Perry states that they are being sheltered differently compared to other shelters around the area. He states that they are fortunate to have a dedicated staff that spends exactly 1.8 hours every day on each dog to take care of them, go on walks with them and play with them.
“We also have our rooms up front where they are set up more like a living room, where it helps the dog feel at home and it gets them ready to be adopted,” Perry said.
After all, the main goal is to get these pets healthy and ready to be re-adopted into homes that will last for their lifetime. Perry states that the name of the game is to educate dog owners and prepare them as best as they can so they know what it will take to take care of the dog they plan on adopting.
“We’re not a same-day adoption facility,” Perry said. “We require the owners and the pets to have several meet-and-greets prior to them actually going home. We are trying to ensure that we’re educating the people on what breed they’re getting, what type of dog they’re getting and what type of personality they’re getting so that adoption sticks.”
Perry noted that MaxFund is working to create programs and meet specific goals to help pet owners afford medications and routine vet visits. They are attempting to make it more affordable and simple to help relieve some of the expenses of pet owners during these difficult times.
“Our goal is to expand our programs so that we can be a better resource for the community,” Perry said. “There’s CareCredit, and there’s Scratch Pay that they can apply for. If they don’t qualify for certain programs, then we have a different tier based on their income levels and what they can afford. I don’t want an animal to be a burden to a family, and they end up giving up their animal.”
Even though the number of surrenders is increasing, at MaxFund, they are trying to resolve this issue one dog at a time, and hopefully it can create better ways for future pet owners not to have to keep surrendering them.
“This is a special place; we’re trying to do things differently,” Perry said. “We want this to be how sheltering should be, where we’re trying to elevate the standard of what sheltering should be. We are trying to set up these families for success when it comes to adopting and hopefully get to see the dogs go to loving families.”
