WACO, Texas — The Humane Society of Central Texas announced Friday morning it was once again over capacity. According to the shelter's Facebook page, they had 211 dogs but just 207 kennels.
To help clear out the shelter, they hosted an 'Adopt-A-Palooza' event on Friday. From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. there were games, prizes, and many pets looking for their forever homes.
For months the shelter has seen an increase in the number of dogs being brought in, but the number of adoptions has not been keeping up.
"We actually had more adoptions last month than the month before," Executive Director Kandi Hillyer said.
"Unfortunately the number of animals coming in, it was just astronomical. It was up 40%."
While it's unclear why there has been such an increase, Hillyer said the shelter will do whatever it can to keep people with their pets.
"If people need help, if it's a spay-neuter issue we can refer them to the ABC Clinic to get help," she said. "We have dog and cat food available we can give to people until next payday for. So we are willing to do a lot for people to be able to keep their animals at home."
The shelter also has a volunteer who can fix fences if the pet is escaping through a broken one.
Friday's adoption event brought in many potential pet parents, including Waco resident Lettie Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum was looking for a young Chihuahua to take home.
"I wanted a dog I could sleep with or snuggle with and take care of," she said.
Rosenbaum said she was sad to hear how full the shelter was and wanted to help give a dog a new home. She also encouraged anyone else in need of a companion to visit the shelter as well.
"If you feel lonely when you go home, they'll fulfill that loneliness and love," she said.
The goal was to get as many dogs as possible adopted to give the shelter a chance to make space for more to come in.
"We will be in a better place and I'm just hoping that better place will hold to give us some breathing room for a while," Hillyer said. "We were so proud three or four weeks ago that we did find that many homes, we found 60 homes. But within ten days we filled back up again. It's hard to see."
