The Pima Animal Care Center said 20 dogs are currently at risk of being put down following a difficult year for the shelter, which faced a critical overcrowding crisis for most of 2022.
On Thursday, PACC released a euthanasia list that shows the dogs that are at risk. Right now, the shelter is housing 534 dogs. According to director Monica Dangler, that is about 50% more dogs than the shelter would ideally house.
โWe pride ourselves on being transparent with the public,โ Dangler said in a news release. โFor that reason, we are letting the community know that we have reached a point at PACC where we will have to begin making difficult decisions about euthanizing when kennel space is unavailable for incoming dogs.โ
The dogs on the euthanasia list are animals that require more resources to be able to place in an appropriate home. Due to capacity crisis, PACC does not have the resources to find homes for these dogs.
Although they will not be euthanized immediately, they are dogs that will be euthanized if the shelterโs capacity problems are not reduced over the next few days.
Back in July, PACC announced that they may have to start euthanizing dogs due to critical overcrowding at the shelter. PACC has not euthanized any dogs for space since 2016.
A crowded shelter leads to a more stressful environment for pets, impacting shelter safety and increasing the likelihood for the spread of infectious diseases, a PACC news release said.
The inability to isolate sick dogs, like in the recent strep zoo outbreak, puts the dogs at a high risk of contracting illnesses.
On Monday, PACC announced that one of its dogs tested positive for strep zoo, a highly contagious bacterial infection.
As a result, all dogs in the shelter are being treated with a 10-day course of antibiotics.
The disease is often fatal, causing severe pneumonia in dogs.
PACC had a previous outbreak of strep zoo in April after a dog was found dead in a kennel.
According to Nikki Reck, public information officer at Pima Animal Care Center, they're full everyday to capacity with animals. Every year there's an influx of animals due to kitten season, strays and hoarding cases. For three days a pop-up kennel was set up in one of the community rooms at the center. Video by: Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star July 2, 2021.
