LYNNWOOD—As cost-of-living prices surge, affordable housing options are few-and-far between, and inflation is driving up pet food and services prices nationwide, many animal shelters across the country are seeing a heartbreaking influx in surrendered pets.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price data, the price for veterinary, grooming, and other services has been steadily increasing over the last five years. While pet food inflation has come close to zero this year, aggregate credit and debit card spending at pet stores and veterinarian clinics are taking a nosedive, a Bank of America Institute study found.
NBC News first reported on July 28, that animal surrenders are up nationwide, according to the Shelter Animal Count’s database, with an estimated 5.8 million animals filling up shelters last year.
Though Seattle and San Francisco still lead the nation in pet-related spending (relative to the U.S. average), the rise in pet surrenders can still be felt at PAWS Companion Animal Shelter in Lynnwood, where dog surrenders are up 37% year-over-year for the first half of 2025.
According to Rachel Bird, Associate Director at PAWS Lynnwood Companion Animal Shelter, rising costs of living in Washington may be the problem.
“Many people are needing to move because they can’t afford where they’re living anymore and finding affordable housing is challenging, especially finding affordable housing that allows animals,” said Bird. “Many places have either restrictions on animals or charge pet rent.”
Bird continued that many of the people surrendering their animals have also stated they simply can’t afford the rising costs in pet-related services, such as vet visits, food, grooming, and other services.
The rise in pet surrenders could also be attributed to the pandemic, Bird suspects, when not only interests in pet adoptions skyrocketed, according to a study conducted by the National Library of Medicine, but spay and neutering services were suspended resulting in a higher number of dogs and cats having babies.
“We’re seeing people who are needing to surrender more kittens and puppies because they were not able to get their other animals fixed so they’re just reproducing,” said Bird.
While the number of dog surrenders is increasing, the situation is not being made easier by the fact that dog adoptions rates are also down.
“I think that’s partially because people are afraid to bring in an animal when they know the costs associated with that animal, and that care cost has continued to climb, and vet care costs are no longer obtainable for a lot of people,” said Bird. “So the thought of bringing in a new animal, who is going to need ongoing vet care, and just the basics like food, toys, and things like that, can be a little daunting right now because I think a lot of people don’t feel like they’d be able to afford it.”
Lynnwood PAWS serves seven different cities under stray contracts. As they take in more surrendered pets, they are having to limit the number of strays they can take in to ensure they have enough housing, staff, and medical care to provide for their animals.
But it’s not just dogs. PAWS has also seen an increase in cat surrenders, so much to the point where every kennel is full and they are no longer able to take in anymore. In just the last week PAWS has seen several full litters of kittens surrendered likely due to their pets not being fixed.
PAWS in Lynnwood has the capacity to house approximately 60 cats at any given day. It currently has 68 cats on campus and is expecting even more to come in soon.
The ages of the surrendered animals range from infants to senior animals.
“We do our very best to never say no if we can figure out how to make it work. While we have very few spaces where we can put cats, we are diligently working on getting cats out to foster homes and create temporary housing situations, so we can have space for urgent situations,” said Bird. “The last thing we want to do to someone who is urgent, and desperate, and has nowhere else to go with a cat is to say no, so we’re going to try our best to make it work.”
Currently PAWS does not have an official program to incentivize people to keep their animals who may not be able to afford them, but if they happen to have the resources on hand, they try their best to distribute bags of food, or toys, or a crate to do anything they can to encourage owners to keep their animals.
“The lack of access to affordable vet care is also a really big problem for a lot of people,” said Bird.
PAWS Lynnwood is now having to prioritize urgent situations for surrendered animals. For example, a man had to surrender his two dogs recently – who has been living in his car and needed to move across the country – because the rising summer temperatures were no longer a safe environment for those animals.
This same man had owned these dogs since they were puppies, loved them dearly, and raised them to senior age well. But given his living situation and inability to afford pet care, he had no other option other than to surrender them.
“It’s really sad when someone who has raised an animal from a very, very, young age, are now in a position where they need to move and they’re just not able to take them with them – especially two,” said Bird. “That would be really hard for me. They’re really nice dogs and I’m sure they’re missing their family.”
Each animal surrendered to PAWS first undergoes a basic exam from a trained shelter staff member, receives any needed booster, vaccine, or dewormer treatment they may need, and are then transferred to a kennel where they’re cared for by the PAWS staff and volunteers. Animals under PAWS’ care receive daily care, walks, and exercise to ensure they are as happy as they can while awaiting adoption.
PAWS is always looking for volunteers, as well as foster home families who are willing to house an animal part-time to maximize the number of surrendered animals that can be kept at any given time, and to allow the center to serve urgent and emergency situations.
To get involved, either as a volunteer, or foster home, visit: paws.org
Author: Kienan Briscoe
