Economic indicators

So while some quarters read a lot into the boom in storage rental in St. John's (don't people put stuff into storage when they move out?), what about these other anecdotal indicators?

From the CBC:

Labrador animal shelter's days may be numbered

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which takes in more than 300 lost and abandoned animals a year, would stop accepting animals Aug. 1, so it can adopt out its strays and close its doors by the end of the summer.

Bonnie McLean, a member of the SPCA board, said Thursday that more donations would help the association hire a person to work at the shelter, taking some of the load off the overworked volunteers.

"We're never had to close before, we've never been in such dire straits with our volunteer situation," McLean said. "Its the daytime shifts we need people for. We've lost a lot of volunteers over the years due to the military leaving the town."

And from VOCM:

Kittens Found in Grocery Bag in St. John's
July 11, 2008

Six kittens brought into the St. John's SPCA are doing well after being left inside a grocery bag in a local park. SPCA Spokesperson Debbie Powers says a man passing through the park off Carpasian Road last week spotted the bag and looked inside. Some thirty plus cats and kittens are currently up for adoption at the SPCA, with a number of them already spayed and neutered. Powers says the number of cats being abandoned is unsettling, with some owners leaving the province to head west.

Pictures of the cats and kittens at the SPCA can be seen here.