More than 100 furry friends were abandoned last year as the Humane Society of Utah reported a massive jump compared to years past.
2023 was a rough year for some shelters in the state. West Valley City Animal Shelter and Salt Lake County Animal Services reported that they were overflowing with pets waiting to be adopted. The majority of these animals were strays or lost pets.
“Animal Control has encountered numerous dogs tied to poles in public places with notes pleading for a home,” Lisa Weiss, animal care/community outreach coordinator at Weber County Animal Services, said. “Recently, we found four 10-week-old puppies left in a wire crate at our doorstep in freezing temperatures without any blankets or coats.”
These puppies have since been adopted. But for some animals, the road to adoption can be long and difficult.
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When an animal is abandoned on the Humane Society of Utah doorstep or the group is notified about an animal abandoned in a different location, the first step is to contact the local authorities, according to Guinn Shuster, director of marketing at the Humane Society of Utah. Then, there’s something called a stray hold, which is a period of time where the animal is held and is unable to be adopted.
In many cases, Salt Lake County Animal Services will approve the Humane Society of Utah to serve as the stray hold in their facilities. “We often work with many other shelters across the state where if the animal isn’t adopted there and they’re low on resources or they’re overcrowded, we’ll transfer the animals here because we have such good foot traffic and a high rate of adoption,” Shuster said in an interview at the Humane Society of Utah’s Murray facilities Tuesday.
Though animals can’t express their feelings through words, abandoning an animal can have a negative impact on them that they show through their behavior.
“Changes in environments, changes in routine can cause a lot of stress for an animal,” Shuster said. “If you have animal who’s been used to spending time in a home environment and now they’re outdoors or they’re in a shelter environment, that can be really stressful for them.”
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A dog named Smokey barks at the Humane Society of Utah shelter in Murray on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. Officials say pets are being abandoned at a high rate in Utah.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
In addition to causing the animal stress, abandoning an animal is also illegal. Utah Code states “a person is guilty of cruelty to an animal if the person, without legal privilege to do so, intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence: fails to provide necessary food, water, care, or shelter for an animal in the person’s custody; abandons an animal in the person’s custody.”
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The main reasons why people abandon an animal in Utah have to do with housing. According to Shuster, housing insecurities and the difficulty of finding affordable apartments that accept pets are big reasons why the rate of animal abandonment has gone up.
Right now, the Humane Society of Utah is seeing more dogs abandoned than cats, due to housing issues. “It’s a lot easier for people to find rental apartments for smaller animals or cats than it is large breed dogs.”
In addition to seeing more dogs abandoned than cats, Shuster also said the kinds of dogs being abandoned right now are purebred golden retrievers, pointers, springers and other purebred dogs.
“The majority of animals being surrendered to us are not returned adopters,” Shuster explained. This means that people are surrendering more dogs from breeders than they were before. She also added that people adopting a pet during the COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t seem to account for the majority of the animals being abandoned this past year.
There are resources available for pet owners who find themselves struggling financially.
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“People who are struggling financially and are already receiving services, maybe they’re on food stamps or Medicaid, we have a low cost spay and neuter clinic that’s open to the entire public,” Shuster said. “But we also have a special program called the SNIP program where if you’re receiving some of those additional services, you’ll get an even more discounted cost on spaying and neutering or vaccinations.”
Local pet food banks exist across the the state, including one run by the Salt Lake County Animal Services and another known as Ruff Haven Pet Pantry. Street Dawg Crew of Utah also offers free supplies for animals. Ruff Haven Crisis Sheltering offers crisis sheltering for these animals. The Humane Society of Utah can sometimes help out with emergency surgery.
The Best Friends Animal Society has a list of other resources that pet owners can turn to in times of financial hardship.
“We also have a pet retention program here because we want to keep families together,” Shuster said. The Humane Society of Utah can help you discover resources so you can provide loving care for your pet through difficult times.
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Humane Society of Utah social media coordinator Maddie Cushing and Savannah Forbush play with Domingo at the shelter in Murray on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. Officials say pets are being abandoned at a high rate in Utah.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Shuster said if the situation requires you to no longer have your pet, there are other options for you.
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The Humane Society of Utah has a private pet rehoming page attached to its website. “You can list your pet with all their information and the people will actually contact you directly, so there’s no middleman. You don’t have to go through us,” Shuster said. “That page gets hundreds of views daily.”
Ruff Haven Crisis Sheltering also offers rehoming, too.
If it’s a case where you’re living in a rental and the landlord says you have to remove your pet from the premises, the Humane Society of Utah can work with you to surrender the animal and communicate the surrender date to your landlord, Shuster said.
With rising animal abandonment and some shelters struggling with overflowing animals, there’s something that you can do to help — adopt a pet.
Before you begin adopting a pet, Shuster said it’s important to look at your lifestyle. “Maybe you’re an adventure person and you’re ready for an active companion to go hiking with your or a couch potato to watch Netflix with.” Looking at different animals and various breeds can help you find one that corresponds with your lifestyle.
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If you’re up in the mountains all day, an Australian shepherd might be perfect for you. Or if you prefer to stay inside, a cuddly cat might be more your speed.
After identifying the right kind of animal for you and researching the breed, it’s important to go meet the dog or cat or rabbit. “We always encourage people to meet the animal,” Shuster said. “Because even if you have a purebred German shepherd that you think is going to behave a certain way, they may not behave how you expect a German shepherd to behave.”
But it’s also critical to make sure you’re ready to adopt before you do so.
Say you’re unsure about whether or not you are ready to adopt. Try and spend time with your friend’s animal or try out fostering to see if you can handle the responsibility that comes along with animal ownership.
“Fostering is a great short-term commitment for people who can’t bring home a pet permanently, but can for a couple of weeks,” she said. “That often helps the shelters open up space for animal that can move through in that same time and get adopted.”
The killings took place in a region exempt from federal gray wolf protections.
(Dawn Villella |AP) A gray wolf is pictured in 2004 in Minnesota. Utah officials recently killed three wolves after they were seen near livestock in Cache County.
In a rural stretch of southwestern Cache County, state officials killed three wolves earlier this month after the animals were spotted near livestock, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources confirmed Tuesday.
The wolves were shot Jan. 9 by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, said DWR spokesperson Faith Jolley, a move allowed because the animals were found in a small corner of northeastern Utah exempt from federal gray wolf protections.
The region, which lies mostly east of Interstate 15 and extends roughly as far south as Ogden, is considered part of the greater Yellowstone region, where the predator is in recovery. It is the only part of Utah where the state is allowed to manage wolves.
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(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Across the rest of the state, the animal is considered an endangered species. It’s illegal to hunt, harass, trap, shoot or harm them without permission from the federal government.
Jolley said state law directs DWR to prevent wolves from breeding in the delisted area. While the animals were not considered a pack, she said they were believed to be traveling together.
“Lethal removals ensure they don’t establish breeding populations in Utah,” Jolley wrote in a text message.
Caroline Hargraves, a spokesperson for the state agriculture department, said the wolves were found near Avon, a small census-designated community in Cache County of about 500 residents, surrounded mostly by farmland.
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Utah leaders have long been hostile to wolves for preying on livestock and thwarting hunters. The state has doled out millions in taxpayer dollars in an effort to get gray wolves removed from the federal endangered species list.
Most confirmed wolf sightings in Utah have involved lone wolves, Jolley said, though small groups have been documented on a few occasions since the first confirmed sighting in 2002.
During the past year, she said, a handful of lone wolves have migrated into Utah from Wyoming and Colorado.
Wolves from Wyoming and Idaho have made their way into Utah at least 21 times since 2004, according to DWR. In September, the agency said it was aware of at least one lone male wolf present in the state.
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Family members of four Utah children who disappeared with their mother in November are speaking out after the children were located in Croatia.
Now, the family is working through international legal channels to bring the children back home.
The children were last seen on surveillance video at Salt Lake City International Airport boarding a flight with their mother, 35-year-old Elleshia Seymour. Authorities say Seymour took the children without the permission of their fathers after posting what family members describe as “doomsday” claims on social media.
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Seymour was arrested in Dubrovnik on January 15 after the family says news articles alerted people she was talking to in Croatia about the accused kidnapping. She now faces four felony counts of custodial interference. Since her arrest, the four children have been placed in a government-run children’s center in Croatia.
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Jill Seymour, the children’s aunt, has been in Croatia for nine days with her brother Kendall Seymour, who is three of the children’s fathers. They are trying to secure their release.
“We’re just kind of in limbo waiting to get them out,” Seymour said. “These are our kids, and we can’t get custody of them.”
She says the family is only allowed to see the children for two hours a day. Despite providing the requested documentation, the family has not yet been given a clear timeline for when the children can return home.
“They are most definitely trapped there, and they feel trapped,” Seymour said. “We don’t have a clear-cut answer. We’ve provided all the documents we’ve been asked to provide.”
The family has hired Croatian attorneys and is working with the U.S. Embassy to navigate the legal process. Utah-based attorney Skye Lazaro, who has experience with international custody cases, says Croatia’s participation in the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction could ultimately help the family.
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“In this case, it’s a good thing and a benefit that they are part of this Hague Convention,” Lazaro said.
However, Lazaro explained that the process can be slow due to translation requirements and court procedures in the foreign country.
“It requires retaining an attorney in that country who can translate the documents into Croatian and provide all the necessary information to a court,” Lazaro said. “That stuff just takes time.”
If local legal efforts stall, the family can formally petition under the Hague Convention, which may speed up the process, though it could still take several weeks.
“To have to continually say goodbye every day is very hard,” Seymour said. “It’s an emotional rollercoaster.”
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As the legal battle continues, the family is also facing mounting expenses, including short-term housing in Croatia and international legal fees. A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover costs and pay for the children’s flight home.
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Four Utah children who disappeared with their mother in November have been located in Croatia, according to various updates shared by family members.
The children were seen on surveillance video at Salt Lake City International Airport boarding a plane for Europe with their mother Elleshia Seymour in late November, 2025.
An ‘Endangered Missing Advisory’ for the four children was issued on December 10 by the Utah Department of Public Safety.
“The kids are trapped in Croatia in a state-run orphanage,” wrote the family in an update on a GoFundMe page on January 25, 2026. “We are in the country, trying to get the kids out of the custody of the local government.”
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According to another family member, who shared an update in the early morning hours of Jan. 26, 2026, Elleshia Seymor was arrested on Jan. 15 in Dubrovnik, a coastal city on the southern tip of Croatia.
“We are only allowed to see the kids for two hours a day, which we do to keep up their spirits,” wrote the family member. “I cannot understand why they haven’t released the kids to us, as no one else is requesting custody, but we will keep working to get the kids released. If all else fails, we will apply through the International Court at the Hague. Once that application is sent in, they have six weeks max to decide on the matter. So we are still working daily, but prepping for the long haul.”
Elleshia Seymour was charged on December 16, 2025, with four counts of third-degree felony custodial interference by removing a child from the state. A warrant for Seymour was issued on December 17, 2025.
2News spoke with Kendall Seymour just days later, as he continued to search for his children and his ex-wife.
“She forged my signature on passports and took them early Sunday morning,” he said on December 20. “Once someone leaves the country, it becomes months instead of weeks.”
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According to a family member, Kenny arrived in Croatia on January 18, 2026, along with other family members, and they’ve been trying to get the children released.
2News reached out to West Jordan Police for additional information and is awaiting a response.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25244688/merlin_3016180.jpg "Animal abandonment is up in Utah. Here’s why")
