“An alarming situation”: more abandonments, fewer adoptions, the SPA sounds the alarm

Les chiens sont de plus en plus nombreux derrière les grilles des SPA. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

À Montpellier, Nîmes, Millau… comme partout en France, les refuges affichent complet au cœur de l’hiver. Un constat qui pousse Annie Benezech à interpeller l’État.

Annie Benezech is furious. This Wednesday morning, employees of the Montpellier SPA shelter found a small Labrador cross-shepherd tied to the gate along RM 185. “He has been in such a state of stress since then that we can barely approach him,” sighs the site director. The animal has joined one of the adjoining enclosures of the metropolitan pound, while waiting for a place in the shelter that will perhaps allow him to find a new home. “Except that we are already saturated”, says Annie Benezech who says she has had to refuse, since the beginning of the year, “40 abandonments. That's huge!”

The situation is increasingly complex behind the gates of the Montpellier SPA, “like everywhere else. I called the other shelters and everyone is full”, she assures us. We were used to calls from SPAs every summer to come and adopt dogs and cats that were unfortunately abandoned during the holidays. “But that we are all saturated in this way from January onwards, that is unprecedented”.

This warning comes the day after the 2024 report “worrying” drawn up by the animal protection society (SPA) at the national level, particularly for dogs. The report shows an “alarming” drop in adoptions, down 6.4%, while the number of new homes has barely dropped.

Operational difficulties

The Montpellier shelter is a member of the other SPA, the National Confederation of Animal Protection Societies of France, but the brand conflict matters little at a time when the observation is the same everywhere. “Between the shelter and the pound, we have a capacity of 400 animals and we already have more. Except that we can't push the walls,” continues Annie Benezech. Especially since while several cats can live together in the same space, this is not the case for dogs, some of which cannot tolerate the presence of a fellow cat in their box and must therefore be isolated. However, between 2023 and 2024, the number of dog adoptions has gone “from 900 to 700“.

This overpopulation also creates operational difficulties for the center. “This inevitably leads to more veterinary costs, a higher cost of kibble, when we are already at €100,000 per year. And I'm not talking about the increased risk of epidemics”, continues the director. Fortunately, thanks to a budget of €1.3 million, including €600,000 of public money for the pound – “the rest are donations that we have to go and get”– she can count on her 24 employees in addition to an army of volunteers who come to walk the dogs every day.

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Annie Benezech (right) with Coyote, a Malinois who is waiting for a new home in Montpellier. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

Just-in-time

In Nîmes, at the Murailles shelter, president Claude Gabach has only three employees. “We're thinking about hiring a fourth,” he says, faced with the influx of animals there too. His center can accommodate 50 dogs “and we're just as busy. As soon as one leaves, another arrives” , he says. He was hoping to finalize an adoption this Wednesday, to take in an 18-month-old German shepherd. “His master is going abroad. But for now, I can't take him in”.

He too, in 2024, saw a drop in adoptions, “356 compared to 424 in 2023. It even went up to 512 in 2020”. “It must be said that we are also careful who we entrust an animal to. We don't want to find it later in the wild,” continues Claude Gabach.

Abandonments on waiting lists

In Millau, the manager Pauline Dreno even had to set up a waiting list… not for adoptions, but for abandonments. “We tell people that they will have to keep their animal for a while longer, generally four to six months, especially since we prioritize those released from abuse. Sometimes, when we call them back, they have gotten rid of them in other ways”, she regrets. The Aveyronnaise estimates that this phenomenon goes back “about two years. Before, we always had four or five free boxes. Now, that's over”, she sighs.

Pauline Dreno is impatiently waiting to move into the future new shelter in Aguessac, whose €6 million construction site has just been launched. This will not increase the capacity for dogs, which is still limited to 45, “but they will be in spaces ten times larger. In addition to bringing them well-being, this will give another image that will perhaps facilitate adoptions“, she hopes.

“A laxity that encourages abandonments”

Back to Montpellier where, in the past, Annie Benezech had also managed to convince elected officials to expand the site. “We could start again of course, but that's not what will solve the problem. We would only be welcoming twice as many animals,” rages the director, known for her frankness. So beyond the observation, she now wants to challenge the authorities. “Otherwise what is the solution? Mass euthanasia throughout France? I refuse“.

The Héraultaise therefore asks the State to enforce the law. “Abandoning an animal is a crime. It's not for nothing that since 1999 for dogs and 2010 for cats, animals must be identified. But out of 100 cats that arrive at the pound, here, only one is. Some people come to entrust dogs to us saying that they found it, which is impossible to verify. The problem is that the competent services do not have the means to control, unlike what is done in Germany or Switzerland. There are prosecutions for cases of cruelty, but very few for mistreatment. It is time for the State to act. Today, this laxity encourages abandonment. I am very worried”, calls out Annie Benezech, hoping that her voice will be heard.

She will also welcome Sabine Fghoul, president of the National Confederation of Animal Protection Societies of France, on Friday to hammer home her message. In the meantime, she quickly returned to the bedside of her last little protégé. One more.

Fashion trends, inflation…

In its annual report, the SPA explains the increase in abandonments, in particular by the fact that certain breeds have recently become “"fashionable", while their education requires investment, for example the Malinois or the Staffordshire Terriers. A job that discourages many owners, who then prefer to abandon their animal. For Annie Benezech, inflation also plays a role. “&Of course, a dog costs money. But you don't get rid of its problems that way. The animal is a member of the family", argues the director of the Montpellier shelter.

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