In these tough economic times, local animal shelters are finding out the hard way that people are not the only ones being affected by the growing fiscal crisis.

According to Eric Durcinka, executive director of the Humane Society of Elkhart County, shelter staffers are already predicting the largest single year of growth in the organization’s history.

“This year will probably see our biggest year of growth that I’ve seen in the industry, and I’ve been in the industry for 14 years,” Durcinka said. “By year’s end, we’ll see probably around 1,000 more cases than is typical in any given year.”

Durcinka said he first started noticing the increase in drop-offs and animal abandonments during the spring of this year, right around the time when the local economy started to show some real shakiness.

“As we got through summer, it really started kicking in,” Durcinka said. “It just happened so fast. Our animal intakes were increasing almost monthly at a significant rate.”

Durcinka noted that the society’s Bristol shelter is taking in on average a staggering 50 cats a day.

“We’ve had days where we’ve taken in 65 cats or more,” Durcinka said. “It’s overwhelming. I mean, it’s something that I don’t think even most people in the community can understand — the sheer volume that number constitutes just over a few months.”

Under the strain of such an unexpected flood of animals, Durcinka said, it is becoming increasingly difficult just to keep the shelter afloat.

“We aren’t used to seeing this kind of volume, especially as we’re coming into fall,” Durcinka said. “We really get hit hard during the summer, and usually at this point we’re slowing down and regaining our balance. But this year we haven’t seen any noticeable decrease from the end of summer to now, and there’s no end in sight.

“Just last week we had one of our largest intakes we’ve ever had, and we’re well into fall already,” he said.

Durcinka noted that while reports of animal abuse have stayed relatively average, instances of neglect and abandonment have been skyrocketing over the past few months.

“Abuse hasn’t changed, but neglect has really increased, and that’s usually related to people’s inability to pay for a pet’s vet care,” Durcinka said. “We’ve also noticed a big increase in abandonment. We’ve had a large volume of complaints of people abandoning their pets when they leave or move to another location.

“It’s usually not that common, but recently we’re getting reports almost every other day, literally,” he said.

Durcinka said that in his opinion, the volatile state of the economy is without a doubt the number one driving force behind the massive upswing in cases experienced by the shelter.

“A lot of times the people that are leaving their animals behind are doing it because they are back on rent, they are having trouble, maybe they’ve lost their jobs, or just fallen on incredibly hard times,” Durcinka said. “That’s still no excuse for abandonment, but these people are shedding everything they can from their lives to decrease their financial obligations.”

Durcinka added that he feels the residents of Elkhart County have been hit particularly hard by the growing economic crisis.

“As far as from what I understand, we’ve been uniquely hit because we’re very large on manufacturing and have a lot of companies that have recently shut down,” Durcinka said. “I do know from people that I’ve talked to that the economy is affecting people pretty much universally, but I really feel that it has hit us uniquely hard due to the large number of businesses closing their doors in this area.”

Strangely enough, Durcinka said, the number of pet adoptions currently taking place at the shelter has actually increased slightly over the past few months — something he attributes to a growing awareness among the community that adoption is the only real chance these animals have at seeing a happy, normal life.

“We’ve really not seen any decrease in adoption, and actually we’ve seen a bit of an increase,” Durcinka said. “I think the people that are really interested in animals today are deciding to adopt, because they’re realizing the importance of adoption in these times of economic volatility when so many pets are being abandoned.”

Kelly Johnson, an animal control officer with the LaGrange County Animal Shelter, agreed.

“When the drop-offs started really coming in a couple weeks ago, we got nervous, so we started contacting all the rescues that we could contact, and really worked at getting awareness out,” Johnson said. “Then all of the sudden everything started moving real good. We actually adopted five dogs out in six days last week, so we’re pretty excited about that, and I actually have a woman coming in from Chicago to adopt a dog this week. So right now we’re just staying on our toes and preparing for anything.”

When asked what people in the community can do to help animal shelters, Durcinka said just one word: Adopt.

“Really, just adopt from the humane societies. That’s the number one thing I can offer to do,” Durcinka said. “And if people do have the ability and resources, donate, even if you’re just slightly interested in the animals, because when the economy is down and people can’t care for their pets, humane societies are the ones who really see and feel the impact it has on these animals.

“So if you can, please don’t hesitate to adopt.”

For more information on animal adoption or to schedule a shelter visit, call (574) 848-4225 for the Humane Society of Elkhart County, or (260) 463-4142 for the LaGrange County Animal Shelter.