Rising costs leave families struggling to care for their animals

Cornwall, ON (October 31, 2025) – The Ontario SPCA Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Animal Centre is seeing first-hand the impact that economic challenges are having on families and their pets. With the rising cost of living, more people are finding it difficult to afford basic pet care, and animal centres across the province are feeling the effects. 

Earlier today, 15 cats and kittens were brought into care at the Cornwall animal centre after being left outside the building overnight. While all the animals are now safe, this situation underscores the challenges many people face when they simply don’t know where to turn for help. 

“The cost of food, housing and veterinary care continues to rise, and we understand that families are struggling,” says Candice Gordon, Manager, Ontario SPCA Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Animal Centre. “We want people to know they’re not alone. The Ontario SPCA is here to help – and we encourage anyone who needs support to reach out before they feel like they’ve run out of options.” 

To help keep animals with the families who love them, the Ontario SPCA offers a variety of community support services, including distributing pet food to local food banks to keep furry bellies full, and hosting mobile spay/neuter and wellness clinics to make basic veterinary care more accessible and reduce pet overpopulation.

To meet the growing needs of the community, the Ontario SPCA recently broke ground on a new Cornwall & Region Animal Centre and Veterinary Clinic, which will open in 2027. The new 8,000-square-foot facility will include an in-house, charity-based spay/neuter and basic care clinic. The clinic will provide affordable spay/neuter surgeries and essential veterinary care, helping to reduce pet overpopulation and making preventive care more accessible for local families. Once operational, it will have the capacity to perform thousands of spay/neuter procedures annually – a key step in addressing one of the region’s most pressing animal welfare challenges. 

“This new facility is an investment in our community’s future,” says Gordon. “By improving access to affordable care, we can help keep pets in their homes, prevent unplanned litters, and reduce the number of animals entering shelters.” 

The Ontario SPCA is calling on the community for support as it continues to care for animals in need, including these 15 cats and kittens. To donate or learn more, visit ontariospca.ca/sdg 

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Media Contact 

Arianne Kirkey
Community Outreach Coordinator,
Ontario SPCA Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Animal Centre
(613) 937-7622
akirkey@ontariospca.ca 

The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society  

The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society is a registered charity that has been changing the lives of animals for over 150 years. The Society provides care, comfort and compassion to animals in need in communities across Ontario. It values all animals and advocates to treat them with respect and kindness. The Society strives to keep pets and families together and does so through a variety of community support services, such as sheltering and adoptions, including emergency sheltering, feral cat management programs, animal transfers, food distribution, humane education, animal advocacy, and spay/neuter services.  

The Ontario SPCA does not receive annual government funding and relies on donations to provide programs and services to help animals in need. To learn more, or to donate, visit ontariospca.ca. Charitable Business # 88969-1044-RR0002. 

The Ontario SPCA Stormont Dundas & Glengarry Animal Centre is located on the lands of the Akwesasne Mohawks and their ancestors. We also acknowledge the Algonquin, Haudenosaunee (Ho-den-oshow-nee) (Iroquois), Huron-Wendat (huron-wen·dat), and Abenaki who are neighbours and partners to the Akwesasne Mohawk.