KENT COUNTY, Mich. — The Kent County Animal Shelter has announced a "code red" amid an uptick in animal intake this year.
Shelter director Angela Hollinshead said the animal shelter is currently caring for 148 animals, and a large portion of those animals are lost pets. She said these pets have microchips, but shelter staff have been unable to get in contact with their owners.
With this many animals in their care, Hollinshead said shelter staff are spread thin.
"[The animals] have really fantastic enrichment schedules, and staff and volunteers spend a lot of time working for them and providing care," she said. "The downside is, is that when we see capacity issues like we have now, we don't have as much time to spend with those animals individually."
Hollinshead said fostering pets helps lessen the burden on shelter staff by clearing a cage for another animal in need and getting pets out of the shelter. However, the best way to help the shelter is to adopt animals and help find lost pets' homes.
Between June and July, the shelter brought in 665 animals. The shelter's intake is up 15% this year, according to Hollinshead.
"We're seeing huge increases in how many animals are actually coming into our building, and our adoptions are just not keeping up with that right now," she said.
The Kent County Animal Shelter is currently participating in Clear the Shelters, which lowers adoption fees for dogs to $17.
"We have dozens of animals available for adoption," Hollinshead said. "But we also have dozens more who are in the background waiting to go up for adoption or be transferred out or we reclaimed by their families."
Other than adopting or fostering, Hollinshead said sharing their posts on social media can help, as well as volunteering or donating. For more information, click here.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.