Abandoned Pets After Deportations Overwhelm Shelters in the U.S.

• Overcrowded shelters due to deportations in the US
• Pets left alone and abandoned
• Organizations call for urgent help

Animal shelters in Florida and other US states are experiencing a crisis that is growing.

The deportations of migrants have left behind dozens of pets, creating an additional burden for organizations that were already operating at the limit.

In cities like Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York, the same picture repeats itself: animals losing their owners overnight and shelters without enough space to take them in.

Pet Shelters Face Growing Crisis

An overcrowded shelter in Miami

In western Miami, the director of Adopt and Save a Life Rescue Mission, Daymi Blain, faces new cases of abandoned dogs, cats, and even birds every week.

“We already had many problems with people abandoning their pets, whether due to evictions, moves, and then, starting about six months ago, we’ve been receiving many more calls, completely different. Now they say, ‘my parents left, they were deported, they are detained,’” she told EFE in an interview.

Currently, the shelter has more than 50 dogs and 30 cats, as well as other species. To deal with the emergency, they refurbished a barn and three trailers, generating a monthly electricity cost of $1,200.

“These are reports every day, every day, thousands of calls, so many calls. I don’t even answer them anymore because I can’t take them in, I can’t help them, so what I do is post them on social media to see if other rescues can help us,” Blain added.

Abandoned Pets After Deportations

The figures reinforce the concern: in the first 200 days of Donald Trump’s administration, more than 352,000 undocumented immigrants were arrested and 324,000 deported — an average of 1,620 per day — according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The impact is visible in cases like that of Benjamín Marcelo Guerrero Cruz, an 18-year-old Chilean detained in California while walking his dog.

After his arrest, the family found the animal abandoned on the streets of Los Angeles.

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Community Responses

In California, the organization C.A.R.E.4Paws seeks to launch a special program in the fall to take in pets of migrants facing deportations, violence, or other crises.

“When people go through these incredibly difficult moments, the last thing they should be worried about is what will happen to their beloved pets,” said its co-founder, Isabel Gullö.

Other shelters, such as Saving Hope Rescue in Dallas, report that some owners already anticipate their deportation and ask for help so they don’t leave their dogs on the street.

“A man facing deportation must leave his home tomorrow, and his greatest concern is what will happen to his beloved dogs,” the association shared on social media.

An Urgent Appeal

From Miami, Blain insists on the need for community support:

“We need a lot of help from volunteers, from people who help care for the dogs in their homes because we don’t have the space, we need fans, we need roofs for the animals because we don’t have them. We have them in cages with a fan.”

The message is clear: “We have exceeded the number of animals we can take in.”

The crisis of pets abandoned due to deportations reflects a silent but profound impact of immigration policy: animals left helpless and organizations unable to respond to the growing demand.

Without citizen and community support, shelters will not be able to withstand the pressure that continues to grow.

Do you think there should be official programs to protect the pets of deported migrant families?

SOURCE: EFE