No room at the shelter?

Both public and private shelters are feeling the strain of too many dogs and cats and not enough homes that want them.

The Madison ARK animal shelter is just one of many that is telling people they just can’t take anymore.

Mandy Nabors, executive director of Madison ARK said that it’s currently housing about 70 animals and there is no more room, according to one MSNBC report.

People are still dropping them off, though.

“They began dropping them at our doorstep,” Nabors said. “We found a cat in the back in a carrier, a dog someone left for us in our outdoor fences, several litters of puppies left just in the yard — and we’re not going to turn them away. We took them in and we just have no more space. All of the rooms of the building are taken up and all the rooms have animals. Our supplies are running out very, very quickly.”

The tanking economy has led to many shelters reporting more owner surrenders (pets brought in by owners) and more reports of pets being abandoned in buildings or let loose on the streets, USA Today reported last week.

All this in addition to the traditional spike in surrenders caused by Christmas pets that haven’t worked out.

In Pennyslvania, yet another factor is at play — a new state dog law that, while calling for improved kennel conditions, limits the number of dogs breeding kennels can keep.

In the past 30 days, more than 100 dogs have been brought to the Humane League of Lancaster County.

Most, according to an MSNBC report, are dogs from area kennels, struggling to comply with the state’s new dog law.

The Humane League is asking kennel owners and others to wait until next month to “surrender” their animals. And it’s cut the price of adopting a dog in half — a strategy many shelters have turned to in recent months.

For more information on dogs available in Lancaster, visit the Humane League online.

Posted by jwoestendiek January 12th, 2009 under Muttsblog.