CHARLOTTE — Kennels are nearly full as more animals come into the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Animal Care and Control.
The dog capacity meter on its website shows it’s in the red with less than 10 kennels available.
“It’s been full for quite some time,” said Julia Conner with Animal Care and Control.
She said that in the last month, 639 animals were brought to the shelter; and of those, 234 were dogs.
The shelter has more than 200 kennels, but the problem is a majority of those are already occupied.
“That’s a crazy amount,” Conner said.
The cause of the influx of animals is mostly due to lost pets, which is common during the summer.
However, the rate of those pets coming in is higher than normal.
She also said more dogs are being given up by their owners because they’re moving or because it’s too expensive to care for a pet due to inflation.
(Watch the video below: Dogs at the CMPD Animal Care & Control Shelter)
Katherine Shermansky is fostering a dog, Gia, until she is adopted.
“It just makes me feel good,” Shermansky said. “I just love dogs and it just makes my heart full.”
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She’s asking the community to step up and help, too.
“Just to give them a break from the shelter,” Shermansky said. “They really, really need help.”
Animal Care and Control said workers will not euthanize any animals unless they are a danger to the community or severely sick.
>>For information on adopting pets, click here.
If the shelter reaches maximum capacity, it will have to make some very difficult decisions regarding euthanizations.
(Watch the video below: Emaciated dog found abandoned outside shelter)
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