KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KC Pet Project is at critical capacity after taking in more than 150 dogs last week.
The shelter took in 148 dogs between April 1-5 before someone abandoned 11 dogs and seven cats in the parking lot on Friday. Then on Saturday, 19 more dogs were taken in, according to a Facebook post by the shelter.
KC Pet Project only has 150 kennels at its Kansas City location.
“This is a really, really tough situation to be in because we do not want to have to euthanize for space here, but we are having to euthanize dogs almost every day because we are just out of options," said Tori Fugate, chief communications officer at KC Pet Project. "We don't have space. We are an open admission shelter which means we have to have kennels available for the animals that are coming into our shelter."
The shelter is looking for foster homes to help open up kennels.
Additionally, the shelter is running a $30 adoption special on animals over 30 pounds, and almost 100 dogs are on KC Pet Project's at-risk list where adoption fees are waived.
Fugate said resources are available for pet owners in need.
“We hear from families every day that are struggling. They're struggling to put food on the table for their families, they're struggling to find housing for their families [and] they are really struggling to find housing for their animals," Fugate said. "We hear from people every single day. And those factors are really a combination of what we're seeing here and the numbers just continue to rise."
Fugate said she hopes owners look at their options, such as affordable veterinary care at Pet Resource Center of Kansas City, and consider the stress on shelters.
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