Connecticut animal shelters seeing ‘more huskies than usual’

March Madness has arrived and the UConn Huskies are, as usual, doing well on the court. Simultaneously, there are “more huskies than usual” in Connecticut animal shelters, according to advocates.

The numbers are not huge, but Pamela Weiss, who works at Branford’s Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter, said Siberian huskies are rare to see in shelters.

“We’ve had more Huskies than usual. In the past year we’ve had three or four adults come through and then we had a husky puppy litter,” she said. “We don’t normally get huskies. We might get them roaming a lot. That happens, and they’re usually repeat offenders. But they go back to their owners.”

It was “definitely different for us to have that many,” she said.

Two huskies are up for adoption at the Connecticut Humane Society, Nikolai and Natalie, according to Kathryn Shubert. She said between Jan. 1 and March 7, the humane society “took in seven pets who were labeled ‘husky’ as either the first or secondary breed (so this could include potential mixes).”

So far this year, the Humane Society has taken in a total of 125 dogs, seven of which were huskies, 5.6 percent of the total, a small increase from the same time period last year.

Huskies are working dogs, and can be a challenge, Shubert said: “They are a very active breed, both physically and mentally, and are going to need consistent training and exercise throughout their lives. Huskies are known for being loud, and can sometimes be escape artists, but with the right enrichment, training, and socialization in their lives, they make wonderful pets.”