Animal shelters across the Mississippi Gulf Coast are grappling with a difficult combination: more animals coming in than they can house, and not enough staffers or volunteers to care for them.
The Humane Society of South Mississippi in Gulfport had roughly 500 animals — more than the shelter could handle — with kennels stacked on top of one another holding dogs of every age and breed. “It’s a capacity crisis,” said Katie King, the shelter’s development director. Like many organizations along the Coast, the Humane Society has struggled to fill job openings in a tight labor market.
The squeeze is similar at the Jackson County Animal Shelter, where staff have been forced to consider euthanizing healthy, adoptable dogs to make room. When the shelter reaches capacity, it can already euthanize animals deemed unadoptable because of aggression or illness too severe for its veterinarians to treat. “But we are running short on animals that are not adoptable and we are fearful that we will have to do some that are to make space,” shelter director Joseph Barlow said.
Both shelters put out calls for volunteers as well as donations of cleaning supplies, food, treats and other items.