News sources across the nation have been reporting an increase in pet abandonment in America. However, the Jacksonville Humane Society (JHS) says that they are seeing quite the opposite here in the city. 

Spinnaker spoke with Lindsay Layendecker, the Assistant Development Director at the Jacksonville Humane Society to discuss what they have been experiencing. 

From Jan. to April of this year, JHS has helped people adopt 1743 pets. This number is significantly higher than adoptions the previous year, 1543, during the same time period. To note, because of the COVID-19 pandemic beginning last year, adoption rates were lower than past years to begin with. 

Both the Jacksonville Humane Society and the Animal Care & Protective Services have participated in two large-scale adoption events in Feb. and April. They had been canceled in the past due to COVID-19. Both of the organizations will be starting the events again in July. 

“We’re not seeing an increase in people trying to surrender pets. Instead, we are seeing an increase in people asking for help to keep their pets. We know Jacksonville to be a compassionate city that cares about animals. We have not seen a change in that whatsoever,” Layendecker says. 

The Jacksonville Humane Society provides a pet safety net for owners in need of assistance. These services range from free pet food all the way to medical care. The idea of the pet safety net is to provide anything a pet parent may need to keep their pet at home. Additional resources are available here.

“People love pets in Jacksonville and that’s not going anywhere,” she said. 

Layendecker encourages anyone seeking help with their pets to email her at [email protected], call her at (904) 493-4584, or visit their website. 

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