Some people are using the Halifax Public Gardens as a dumping place for unwanted pets.

It's a bad idea.

Gardens supervisor Heidi Boutilier says the only animals that should be found on the site are ducks, pigeons and other birds.

Not bunnies, albino rats and chinchillas. Or dogs and cats. All of which have been discovered over the years in the 6.5-hectare horticultural haven in the heart of the city.

It's a mystery why people choose the Public Gardens to shove animals through the fence after hours, Boutilier told CBC's Information Morning in Halifax. It's not a zoo.

When workers find a pet, they generally call the city's animal services, the Department of Natural Resources, or Hope for Wildlife, an animal sanctuary.

Shoving pets through the fence

Boutilier recalled one morning when staff found a rooster strutting around as they arrived for work. They eventually learned through another worker that the owner got fed up with the crowing and wanted the bird gone.

"The rooster was becoming quite annoying for this man. He decided on his way to work that he was going to get rid of it so he shoved it through the fence in the Public Gardens," Boutilier said.

Some people are using the Public Gardens as a place to abandon unwanted pets such as bunnies, chinchillas and albino rats, says supervisor Heidi Boutilier. (CBC)

"One of the employees ended up adopting the rooster and took it home with him."

Some abandonments don't end so well. Domesticated bunnies, for example, are defenseless and get killed by predators or in traffic, she said.

They get sick and die

Christine Graham of Homeward Bound City Pound sees first-hand what happens when people don't do their research before buying a pet.

On Friday, she was sitting with Picchu, a grey-black chinchilla that had been found shivering and wet in Halifax's Point Pleasant Park where someone had released him.

Picchu was lucky to have survived for a number of reasons. "Chinchillas cannot get wet. Their fur is so dense, they do not dry out," Boutilier said, adding that dampness can lead to sickness and death.

The gentle, amiable chinchilla — "They're busy, they chew a lot" — is now a teaching pet that Graham uses to educate potential pet owners about the many responsibilities of owning an animal.

Picchu was found shivering and wet in Halifax's Point Pleasant Park where someone had released him. (Cassie Williams/CBC)

She cautions against buying bunnies and the latest pet du jour — mini flying squirrels called "sugar gliders," which are nocturnal and smell.

Pets require a lot of care

"People just aren't aware of the care these animals require, and even how long they will live," Graham said.

"If they are picked up by animal control, they come to Homeward Bound. We'll do the medical checkups, spay and neuter, screen and test [for compatibility with people] and try to adopt them out."

She said there have even been snakes and lizards found abandoned around the city.