record complaints

The number of complaint calls to the New Brunswick SPCA rose in 2025.

They responded to 4795 complaints in 2025, which is four percent higher than the previous year. That’s the highest volume of calls in the history of the organization.

Executive Director Lesley Rogers says the continued increase is a result of the cost of living, particularly affordable housing and low incomes.

“Particularly with the continued rise in the cost of living, difficulty in a tight housing market for low-income pet families trying to find affordable housing that accepts pets continues to be a challenge,” said Rogers.

She says the aging population of pet owners also contributes to these statistics, as their circumstances can sometimes change without warning. Some of those animals are coming into the SPCA’s system because they need someone able to care for them.

“The public is more aware of animal protection issues and concerns. We applaud them for making calls for us to follow up on to make sure that the animals they have concerns about are safe,” Rogers said.

The number of domestic animals seized from unsafe situations totalled 1,111, roughly 100 fewer seizures than the year prior.

Rogers says the SPCA’s system cannot sustain a never-ending upward trend in complaints and animals being seized. However, she says her team is encouraged to see some positive impact resulting from the first full year of their Happy Tales prevention program.

Happy Tales is a program designed for low-income pet families to access support for events such as emergency veterinary care costs, vaccinations and spay/neuter. The program has been a huge success, according to Rogers.

“We are really keen to keep moving in that direction so that we can slowly bend the curve in terms of the growth in calls down because more people have other paths to get good resources for their pets.”

The program is funded entirely by donations and provided almost 1,300 pets from low-income families with essential care in 2025.

The NBSPCA enforces provincial animal protection laws under the SPCA Act. The organization’s involvement resulted in 23 convictions in 2025.

The number of agricultural animals such as horses, goats, pigs, and cows that were removed from unsafe conditions rose from 28 in 2024 to 50 in 2025, an increase of roughly 78 percent.

222 pet establishment inspections were performed in 2025, which are done to ensure that animal breeders, shelters, kennels, and pet stores that sell animals meet animal welfare standards.

“At any time, we will investigate a complaint against a breeder from the public if they have concerns about the environment the animals are raised in or the treatment of the animals,” said Rogers.

She noted one incident in the spring of 2025, where over 42 shih-tzus were seized from a breeder due to a public complaint, where someone had bought a puppy from the breeder. “Unfortunately, the puppy died within 7 or 8 months. [The complainant] was living in another province, but she was concerned about the well-being of animals at that facility. So, she made the complaint and that led to the charges that were made.”

Rogers says the owners of the operation pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing later in March. The owners were operating without a valid pet establishment license and were selling animals without an attached veterinary certificate of health.

“Our job is when we receive a complaint to investigate it and hold people accountable based on what we find. More important, we want to educate the public so that they know the signs to make sure they don’t inadvertently support those kinds of enterprises,” said Rogers.