The Contra Costa County Animal Shelter is making an urgent plea.
It’s well over its maximum capacity and needs homes for many animals quickly.
“We like to maintain our kennel inventory on dogs at around 100 when it gets upwards to 150 it’s concerning for us, greatly concerning for us. It becomes a dire situation,” Jane DeMay Andreotti, of Contra Costa Animal Services, said.
While each of the shelter’s long kennels normally houses one dog, they’ve had to cut the kennels in half.
Some of the younger pooches are even sharing small spaces.
“It causes stress, it’s a smaller area. They don’t have as much room to move around and it’s not ideal for the animal and it certainly not ideal for the staff and it’s really not what we wanna be doing,” DeMay Andreotti said.
“They are packed in tight and we need to clear them out,” said Stefani Buzzard, a volunteer coordinator.
To make matters worse, rescue groups that normally foster some of the animals are also full. So now, the shelter is doing all it can to encourage the public to adopt or even foster a pet.
Adoptions are free right now and the shelter is holding a special Sunday adoption event.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. >Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
“Just look at them, give them an opportunity and maybe you’ll find a new partner in your family,” Julieanna Perez Fajardo, of Contra Costa Animal Services, said.
