Pets left in limbo as Australian owners get cold feet

A dog named Summer (L) looks out from a kennel at Monika's Doggie Rescue, a no-kill shelter where the founder says they are pushing capacity as people return pets adopted during coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic lockdowns, in Sydney, Australia, August 31, 2022. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

Australian animal shelters are overflowing, and the wait to return animals can be as long as eight months as pet owners return to work and face rising costs.

"In all the 20 years that I've been in rescue I have never seen it like this," says Monika Biernacki, founder of Monika's Doggie Rescue from the shelter in Sydney's northern suburbs.