FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Fort Lauderdale animal shelter is near capacity with cats and dogs, and with even more coming in, volunteers said, this can pose a major problem.
Many of these animals need a loving home for the holidays.
“It tears you up to see these dogs, the look in their eye. They plead with you,” said Broward Animal Care volunteer Wendy Schugar-Martin. “‘Pick me to take me out.'”
A walk through an animal shelter isn’t easy. It’s especially hard for Schugar-Martin.
“When you walk past them and don’t take them, your heart breaks,” she said.
Broward County committed to the no-kill policy back in 2012. While it means the 230 dogs and 250 cats will not be put down for lack of space, those spots are at a premium.
When the shelter opened almost two years ago, the capacity was designated for 500 animals.
“We’ve been waiting a long time in the community, we were hoping things would move a lot quicker,” Schugar-Martin said.
Schugar-Martin said since director Lauralei Combs took over in the spring, she was hoping for new programs to reach out to the community and bring in more rescue groups to foster both cats and dogs.
“Without these programs, you stockpile the dogs in the building,” Schugar-Martin said.
“We are Broward County’s open intake county shelter,” Combs said. “A portion of the community has given up on these pets.”
Combs said she and her staff have not given up. Since she’s taken over, the number of pets that have successfully left the shelter has jumped 10 percent.
They said it’s a work in progress. “I’ve been here 10 months. We’re developing new programs. We are making new hires,” Combs said.
Schugar-Martin fears that the stress of the shelter has caused some of the dogs’ behavior to deteriorate.
7News showed Combs cellphone videos of dogs lined up in a garage-like intake area. Most of them are stray dogs and lost pets that were picked up off the streets.
After seeing the video she said, “Do you want us to turn them away? We can’t. We’re a government agency.”
To combat the constant influx, she said they’re working with businesses like Starbucks to showcase pets. They’re also encouraging staffers to promote pets during the holidays.
“They know a little more about this pet. They become their champion,” Combs said. “The volunteer you talked to had great ideas. We cannot do this alone.”
The staff at Broward Animal Care said the help they’re seeking really comes down to the community to adopt or foster.
If you’d like to adopt, foster, or get more information on the process at Broward Animal Care, click here.
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