St. Joseph Animal Shelter Overcapacity, Needs More Adopted and Foster Pets | New

(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) If you’ve ever considered owning a rescue dog or cat and can afford to care for it, now is the time to adopt.

“We’ve had a hard time, you know, making space and we’re an open admissions shelter. So that means even when our last cage is full, we can’t say no, we can’t refuse. animals,” said Aubrey Silvey of St. Joseph Animal Control and Rescue.

St. Joseph’s Animal Shelter is currently over capacity ahead of the July 4 holiday. And since fireworks can scare pets, the shelter needs enough space to accommodate any dogs or cats that run away from their home.

“Before the fireworks start, make sure your fence is secure. If your dogs are going to be outside, if you can keep them on a leash, that’s even better because they’re going to be scared. Make sure make sure they carry tags with current phone numbers,” Silvey said.

And if you don’t have the capacity to fully adopt a pet, fostering is always an option that helps the shelter make more room.

“So when we’re short on space here, we have opportunities outside of the shelter for temporary placement,” said Cara Campbell, a volunteer for Friends of the Animal Shelter.

In an attempt to solve the overcrowding problem, the Friends of the Animal Sanctuary have a deal for anyone who adopts.

“FOTAS is sponsoring $10 adoptions which will continue through Saturday July 9th. And so $10 will cover your basic medical bills and your municipal license if you live within the city limits of St. Joseph,” Campbell said.

And an important note in case you have a missing dog or cat…

“If your dog is missing, what you want to do is go to our website and select stray. And on that page it will show every stray dog, every stray cat. Every pet we get will keep it for five days if he doesn’t have tags, then after that he’s placed for adoption. So if your pet is missing, you really need to check every day,” Silvey said.

The animal shelter just wants pet owners or anyone who has thought about adopting or adopting to understand the impact it has on the shelter and the animals.

“We’re doing everything we can, but we’re relying on foster families, you know, adopters to come and take these animals away from us so we can continue to help more. And so we’re staying incredibly full. And we’re relying on the community to help us get these animals back into homes,” Silvey said.