Humane Society of Yuma struggling to keep up with number of pets coming in

Workers and volunteers say they're at maximum capacity and overwhelmed - 13 On Your Side's Luis Lopez reports

Yuma, Arizona (KYMA,KCEY) - There's no room for any more rescues at the Humane Society of Yuma (HSOY) and that's making life difficult for the shelter's workers and volunteers.

Since the Fourth of July HSOY has been working with a full capacity shelter. Over 180 pets have been checked into the shelter, and so far only 36 have been returned to their owners or rehomed.

And the animals are still coming in. Volunteers and workers, like executive director Annette Lagunas, are struggling to keep up.

“It’s very overwhelming for our staff to care for that many animals so you figure 92 kennels with multiple animals we’re probably caring for about 150 dogs right now and cats we’re probably dealing with close to 75 on site,” Lagunas said.

The shelter has more than 90 kennels, each typically holding only one pet. With animals constantly coming in, the shelter is quickly running out of space.

For Katarina Davison, the shelters' Community Cat Coordinator, each day has been a challenge.

“Every single day it has been crazy, there has been such an influx every week with cats and dogs,” Davison said.

Among all the responsibilities the staff is dealing with, they say that the hardest part has simply been finding a home for the pets.

“So the hardest part is finding a home for them so whether that’s shelter here in this space and we’re getting filled or a foster home or someone adopting them we’re really just trying to rescue all the animals we can with whatever resources we have available,” Davison said.

Lagunas has been upset with the fact that owners aren't coming back for their run away pets.

“It’s very taxing to see all these animals come in that have clearly been owned but their people aren’t coming for them,” Lagunas said.

The shelter is telling us that if you do have a missing pet to please check their website.