Overcrowding at animal shelters becomes serious issues across metro Atlanta

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - Animal shelters across metro Atlanta are hitting capacity, or they are over capacity. In some cases they have been at these limits for months. Local rescues are in the same situation.

These shelters and rescues are experiencing a concerning trend, more animals are coming in, and fewer are being adopted out.

"We're absolutely seeing it, we've been over capacity all year long. We're also seeing an alarming number of animals abandoned at our gates as well. We've had 158 animals dropped in our parking lot so far this year," Joe Labriola, the executive director for PAWS Atlanta, said.

Labriola said when the shelters are stretched too thin, it can also have an impact on rescue operations. For example, when people abandon animals at their organization, previously they were able to call on the county rescues for help taking in those animals. Currently, DeKalb and Fulton Counties are out of housing space, making it more challenging to help unless it is an emergency.

"It's creating an enormous strain on our resources here. Whether it's staff, whether it's our facility, or our financial resources because these animals were not part of our operating budget and plan," Labriola said.

DeKalb County has been out of housing space in its shelter in August, Fulton County ran out of room in October. Both are only able to accept pets in emergency or critical situations. Cobb County Animal Services says it is at high capacity, but they are taking animals by appointment. Gwinnett County is also taking animals by appointment.

"It really breaks our heart knowing other shelters are struggling as badly as they are, and it's a matter of scale. It's one thing if you're over by 10, 15 dogs. It's another thing for some of the larger shelters, they're over by 100, 150 dogs. And at some point they can't deal with those animals safely," Labriola said.

Jessica Krueger with the Best Friends Animal Society says this situation also impacts the partnerships between rescues and the shelters in terms of taking in the animals. Normally, the shelters can call on the rescues to take in some of the animals from the shelter, but the rescues are at capacity as well.

"For us, we've seen adoptions drastically decrease. So the way that this reflects on shelters is they're also seeing adoptions decrease, but then they rely heavily rely on transfers out to rescues. But when we're also seeing adoptions decrease we can't take as many animals from them. So when they see the combination of those two numbers decreasing, it really unfortunately is very hard for them," she said.

Labriola says PAWS Atlanta has also not been able to take in as many shelter animals as normal.

"We haven't really done many shelter-pulls this year because of our over capacity challenges but when we do have the ability to help other shelters, we absolutely want to do that especially shelters that are not no kill," he said.

Labriola says it means getting creative to try and handle the current situation. At PAWS Atlanta they are reaching out to former and current fosters to see if they are able to take in more animals. The staff is currently housing a number of pets as well.

Krueger says there are a number of ways people can help. If adopting a pet or being a temporary foster is not an option, shelters are rescues can likely use help from volunteers, donations, or even sharing posts on social media.

"You can really make a difference and really help shelter workers and the animals in the shelter," she said.