A WA animal shelter is urging dog owners to desex their pets as it continues to operate at full capacity.

Swan Animal Haven volunteer Jess Sackmann said the number of dogs being surrendered was the highest she had seen in 25 years of volunteering.

The shelter currently has 36 kennels available, but is struggling to keep up with demand.

“We have a waitlist for private surrenders…at the moment we are not getting enough dogs off the waitlist,” Ms Sackmann said. 

“People don’t understand just how significant the issue actually is… until they’re trying to surrender a dog and they’ve rung six shelters and everyone’s full.”

Ms Sackmann said unsterilised pets were a “huge issue,” placing pressure on the shelter to keep up with surrender requests.

Pet sterilisation helps to avoid accidental litters and prevents behavioural issues and health concerns.

Ms Sackmann said increasing pet sterilisation would also decrease the number of dogs in shelters.

Under the Dog Amendment (Stop Puppy Farming) Act 2021, desexing dogs before they turn two will become a legal requirement in WA by the end of the year.

The new laws will not apply to dogs that are already registered by the owner’s local council.

Other exemptions include owners with breeding approval permits, working dogs and racing greyhounds.

Ms Sackmann said the age of sterilisation should be lowered because dogs could have already had puppies by the age of two.

She has also questioned how the law will be upheld unless rangers go door-knocking.

“Mandatory desexing is going to be a good thing, but it’s going to be more effective if [rangers] can actually enforce it,” she said.

The average cost of pet sterilisation in Australia is between $200 and $500, according to Canstar.

The RSPCA WA ran a subsidised desexing program for concession card holders in 2024 but has since stopped taking applications after what it called an “unprecedented response”.

Foster carers are helping to ease the pressure on animal shelters in the short term.  

Laura Tabanera-Valle has fostered dogs from illegal puppy farms and said shelters were put in difficult situations when turning away dogs due to limited resources.

Ms Tabanera-Valle said some dogs she had fostered lived in “their own faecal matter and urine”.

“The dogs we get are going through hard times…they need love and to learn how to be okay around humans,” she said.

Swan Animal Haven volunteer Jess Sackmann said more education around the cost of a puppy and the importance of desexing could decrease the number of surrenders.

“We’ve gotten peoples dogs desexed for them so they stop trying to get us to take more puppies… but there’s only so much you can do – we can’t afford to sterilise everyone’s dogs,” she said.  

“[We need to] encourage people to desex their dogs and be responsible.”