Animal shelters across the country are facing critical capacity issues, and that’s no different here in the Kansas City area.
Independence Animal Services said its “Clear the Shelters” campaign in September ended with a weekend of fee-free adoptions.
The low cost for adopters resulted in more than 30 animals leaving their facility for a permanent home.
Terrell Sage works for the city of Independence and saw the need first hand. He adopted his second cat from the shelter.
Sage's cat, Cheese, was once a shy kitten.
He credits his cat's success to getting him outside of the shelter.
"As soon as he got home — super playful," Sage said. "Not being at the shelter completely changed him."
Unfortunately, the shelter is back at full capacity less than a month later.
"It’s coming in at such a rate that we can not find space," said Christina Heinen, director at Independence Health and Animal Services. "It is extremely stressful not only for the staff, but for the animals too to be at this point."
While Heinen walked KSHB 41's Abby Dodge through rows of occupied kennels, she stopped to discuss the game of tetris employees play each night to make room for the inevitable arrival of more stray animals the next day.
"We expect those kennels that we made space for and moved everyone around and consolidated that we are going to run out of space again by the end of the day," she said. "We’ll have to play the game all over again."
They also face another unique hurdle — Heinen said they are grateful for the donations animals services does receive, but they are not the first option for many philanthropic donations because they are a city-run organization.
"People don’t think to donate to the city as much as they do to a rescue or a nonprofit," she said. "We come against the same challenges that they do, but we don’t necessarily have the same donors behind us."
In an effort to clear more kennels, Independence Animal Services is waiving adoption fees on Saturday for all animals in their care.
You can visit their website by clicking here.
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KSHB 41 reporter Abby Dodge covers consumer issues, personal budgeting and everyday spending. Share your story idea with Abby.
