MCCALL, ID — Affordable housing is hard to find in Valley County, where planning and zoning officials are exploring options for last-minute purchases and future solutions. But some residents who are already renting say their landlords are changing their leases, an unfortunate situation for fur babies.
Courtney Bayuk, MCPAWS Executive Director, said: We made it ourselves. ”
Bayuk says he is seeing an increase in vacancies due to rental agreements. It is common for landlords to outline weight limits and limits on the number of pets allowed on the property. As leases expire, some Valley County landlords are lowering their limits while leaving large dogs behind and looking for new owners.
“So we adopt out large dogs, and nationally dogs, especially large dogs, end up staying in shelters for long periods of time. But when you add the specific requirements of rentals, the problem becomes even bigger. ” Bayuk added.
By September 2024, 80 animals had been surrendered, of which 36 were surrendered due to housing issues, a 55% increase from 2023.
Butch was adopted a few days after my visit to MCPAWS after spending 70 days at the shelter. The average length of an animal’s stay at MCPAWS is just over a month. This in itself is a 73% increase over last year.
“The typical story that started this conversation with us at McCall was about a dog named Dakota who had been with us for over seven months. “And he stayed for an extended period of time,” and during that time they were able to find another place that could accept the dog again and were actually able to come back and adopt him. Ta. But as you know, not everyone gets that opportunity. ”
