Montreal animal shelter tries keeping up with ongoing pet abandonments after Moving Day
Posted July 22, 2026 4:39 pm.
Last Updated July 22, 2026 6:40 pm.
Quebec’s Moving Day may have passed, but an animal shelter in Montreal says it’s still dealing with a dire situation.
Proanima says the number of pets being surrendered to them has yet to stagnate, predicting the coming weeks will be their busiest.
“The intakes started ramping up from May, then June was even higher, and then since July 1, even higher,” said Anny Kirouac, the executive director of Proanima.
“We weren’t 100 per cent sure of what the numbers were going to look like, but the intakes were as high if not higher than expected.”
After reaching nearly 50 intakes per day during peak moving season, Proanima says its Montreal facility came close to being full.
“Prior to the weekend we were close to 200 animals on the site just here in Montreal, which is close to capacity,” Kirouac said. “We don’t want to get to full capacity because as we would compare it to a hospital, we want to make sure that we have enough room for emergencies. Which is why our team had the recent event for adoption free of charge.”
Kirouac says Proanima found homes for 590 animals during a monthlong adoption event from June 19 to July 19. “We thank everybody who came to visit us to adopt a new pet,” she said.
Dr. Vincent Paradis, a veterinarian and Proanima’s director of shelter medicine, says the organization has a “philosophy of open adoption.”
“So we’re not in a judgment,” Paradis said. “People don’t have to fill out a big form and having us judging them. So it’s pretty much orienting them to an animal that fits more their way of life. But it’s more about a conversation, about how we can educate them, maybe give them some tips with a new animal.
Proanima says year-round adoptions are only part of the equation; the organization’s also instituted a variety of programs aimed at helping owners keep their pets.
“We have a spay and neuter clinic for people who are in low income, but we also have temporary housing for people who are in vulnerability,” Paradis explained. “So people who have house violence or maybe need to go to the hospital for any reason, we can keep their animal the time they take care of themselves.
“Our team is pretty good at finding different solutions to keep families together,” Kirouac said. “So whenever possible, we try to do that. It could be to keep the animal for them for a few days, a few weeks, until they get back on their feet. It could be from our thrift stores that we have in all our centres as well to provide the necessary accessories or food.”
With moving season set to continue through to the end of summer, bringing with it a continued uptick in surrendered animals, the shelter says it welcomes any added support from those looking to get involved.
“We have a big foster program,” said Paradis. “They can foster for one time or many times throughout the years. Or people can come and volunteer here in Montreal or any of our other branches.”
“We welcome everyone to come and adopt at all our centres here in Montreal,” added Kirouac. “The hours of operations when people can come and adopt are anywhere from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week or 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the weekend. So, seven days a week.”
