Trouble for Manatee County Animal Services.
- Manatee County Animal Services overcrowded, seeking help from other shelters, volunteers
- Animal Services is cutting adoption fees in half for the month of June
- Manatee County Animal Services
The shelter in Palmetto is busting out of their cages with dogs and cats.
“We do have almost twice as many animals as we should in terms of what the building is designed for,” said Hans Wohlgefahrt, with Manatee County Animal Services.
Right now there are over 180-dogs there as well as 120-cats.
All are up for adoption.
To help free up some space, Animal Services is asking other shelters, rescues and volunteers to step up and foster the animals.
Also, Animal Services is cutting adoption fees in half for the month of June.
All animals are vaccinated, fixed, and microchipped.
Dogs right now are $40, and cats are $20.
Manatee County residents also have to pay a $15 license fee.
Until they get some relief, Wohlgefahrt said they’re using every bit of space available.
“We’ve divided the runs in half and we have a lot of crates all throughout the building,” said Wohlgefahrt. “We don’t have a conference room anymore, so we’re using every space we can.”
Animal Services is dealing with such a large number of cats dogs because of a recent confiscation case as well as it being kitten season.
While they continue to find permanent and temporary homes for the animals, they’re asking for help from the community.
They need volunteers to come and walk the dogs and bathe them and also spend time with the cats.
Alicia Dougherty, a volunteer, said she tries to come out once a week.
“We always post the dogs that we washed just to get them on social media to help them get adopted," said Dougherty.