ELLSWORTH – Animal shelters in Hancock County are reporting dramatic increases in the number of furry residents they’re housing so far this summer.

Numbers have “pretty much doubled since last year,” said Debbie McFarland of the Small Animal Clinic in Ellsworth.

The clinic takes in stray animals, mostly cats and dogs.

McFarland attributes most of the increase to recent increases in the cost of living.

“People are panicking because of what they hear in the news” about the economy, she said. “From my view they are giving up their animals well before they are giving up cigarettes or any other form of entertainment.”

Several other shelters in the county are seeing increases as well.

“People are getting rid of their pets because they can’t afford it, are moving, or just don’t want the animal anymore,” said Doug Radziewicz, director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Hancock County.

He said the number of abandoned and stray cats increases particularly in the summer because the animals breed between spring and fall.

“We are pretty much always full, and we always have a waiting list,” he said.

With the long waiting list, as soon as one animal finds a home, another fills its place.

“It’s a constant battle,” said Radziewicz.

The shelter is able to hold only five dogs and 25 cats.

But the SPCA is raising money to build a $2 million expansion that would triple the size of its current facility.

“Hancock County certainly needs it,” said Radziewicz.

McFarland, who volunteers at the Ellsworth clinic, agreed.

“If we can’t find a home for them, the alternative is to euthanize them,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking, and I try my very best to place them.”

Only six animals out of the hundreds the clinic sees have been euthanized in the past year, mostly due to health issues, she said.

“For the most part they are young, healthy animals that just need to find a good home,” she said.

Those homes are becoming harder to find, some shelter officials believe.

“People just aren’t adopting like they used to,” said Ken Gray, president of Southwest Harbor Animal Welfare Inc.

Gray and his wife have been running the Southwest Harbor shelter with their own money for the past year because adoptions and donations have been so low.

The Southwest Harbor shelter can hold 10 dogs and 25 cats, but Gray finds alternatives to keeping animals there.

Gray has been using rescue leagues to help find homes for some pets.

The leagues focus on a particular breed of animal, such as a Dalmatian or a boxer, and work to find those types of animals homes. When Gray gets a call from someone wanting to get rid of an animal, he calls the leagues, who in turn find homes for the animals anywhere in the country.

“It’s really better for the animal that way,” said Gray. “The less time they spend in a shelter, the better.”

According to Gray and McFarland, the largest increase in animals is seen in the fall, when summer tourists leave.

“The kids get animals for the summer, then just leave them in the apartment. We get calls from landlords asking us to come and pick the cats and dogs up,” said Gray.

He said the shelters see dozens of animals abandoned in this manner.

Shelter officials feel that numbers might get better, but animals will always end up at their doorsteps.

Radziewicz said he hopes that the SPCA’s expansion will relieve some of the pressure on the shelters in the county.

“We just have to be patient,” he said.

mdabrieo@bangordailynews.net

664-0524