South Florida animal shelters, again, at overcapacity

America’s animal shelters are still overwhelmed, and South Florida is no exception.

In Palm Beach County, animal shelter officials report the facility is "Critical: Dangerously Full" on its website.

In Miami-Dade County, animal services made an urgent plea in July to all families that can adopt and foster, as they reported they were operating at 189% capacity for dogs and 153% capacity for cats.

Broward County Animal Care’s “Fall in Love — Empty The Shelters” Fall drive aims to lessen the number of pets in their care while removing barriers to adoption. It partnered with the Bissell Pet Foundation, which supports animal welfare organizations and provides resources to underserved communities across the country.

“We get grant funding from Bissell for each animal that we get adopted, so we can take that money and turn it back into caring for the pets and helping the community in other ways as well,” said Barbara Gollott, the Animal Care Supervisor at BCAC.

With full shelters all across South Florida, Barbara appreciates the help from the foundation towards their drive. When they first started working with Bissell about four years ago, she said there were not that many shelters working with Bissell.

“And now there are over 400 shelters taking part in this because nobody has space … Which is why it's so important for us to let people know that we are a resource,” she said.

Some barriers to adoption include pet fees and concerns about vaccinations and other procedures. All pets at BCAC can be adopted at no cost.

“We provide all of those services in our adoption. So every animal, dog or cat, puppy, older pet, they all are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped,” said Amanda Butler, the shelter’s outreach coordinator. “And if you're a County resident, you get your pet registration for free as part of the adoptions.”

When BCAC reaches capacity, they can only take in animals that are experiencing emergency conditions or are separated from their owners.

“So unfortunately, when we do have stray dogs that do come to the facility, we are imploring the finders to hold onto these pets and attempt to reunite them in their communities versus leaving them at a shelter where their chances of getting back with their owner are less likely.”

Broward County Animal Care’s “Fall in Love - Empty the Shelters” drive runs until Tuesday, Oct. 15.

READ MORE: Broward County's animal shelter remains overflowing with cats, dogs

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