CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Animal CARE is critically over capacity and in need of fosters.
"Over the last two years we see intake increasing month to month and right now we’ve got about 210 dogs on site. I think another 180 or so in foster homes and a few hundred cats and kittens," said Ray Anderson, community engagement manager for Cincinnati Animal Care.
Anderson said the animal shelter, originally built as a dog pound decades ago, was only meant to house 100 dogs.
He said each month they’re taking in more and more dogs and have to resort to using pop-up crates to avoid placing multiple dogs inside a standard kennel.
“We also have emergency kennels, back-up emergency kennels, and right now we’ve resorted to having to use pop-up crates, which we don’t want to use," Anderson said. "We try to keep dogs in those as little time as possible."
Two days after Cincinnati Animal CARE said they were in urgent need of dog food, the organization posted on social media that it received an outpouring of support from the community.
Anderson said they have about 20 additional crates in their clinic and a few in the garage.
Jamie Piccola has been a volunteer for a year and a half. He said it’s difficult to see so many dogs at the shelter and wishes more people would come to the shelter.
“We have so many different breeds, so many different personalities, there’s dogs that love to run with volunteers, there’s dogs that like to just plop with us and get loved on,” Piccola said. “We just want everyone to see what we see here in the shelter.”
Anderson said adoptions are increasing each month but it is not enough to keep up with the demand.
“An animal shelter it’s not a sanctuary, and It’s no substitute for a home. We don’t want any dog to be here. Ideally every dog would be in foster, every cat would be in foster. Ideally the community would put us out of business and no animal would ever need to be here,” Anderson said.
Cincinnati Animal Care is a no-kill shelter, meaning they only euthanize dogs if they have a critical illness and are suffering. They are also legally obligated to take in all stray dogs found in Hamilton County.
“One of the common myths is that these are dogs being returned that were adopted during the pandemic. If that were the case they’d be coming in spayed and neutered, they’d be coming micro-chipped, if they were adopted from reputable shelters and rescues,” Anderson said.
He said he has his own theory as to why so many dogs are coming into the shelter.
“I would wonder if some of these backyard breeders who were getting a lot of business when shelters and rescues cleared out during the pandemic are now left with a lot of dogs and not as many adopters, again I don’t have the data for that that’s just a guess,” he said.
The shelter has also spoken about its need for dog food after a shipment was delayed.
"URGENT: We need dry dog food," the humane society said on Facebook Saturday. "Our incoming shipment of dog food has been delayed and with so many dogs continuing to come in, we're worried we may run completely out by Monday."
The post included a link to the organization's Amazon and Chewy wish lists. By Monday, Cincinnati Animal CARE said it had received more than enough donations.
"2 days ago we posted that our food shipment had been delayed and we were projected to run out of dog food before it arrived," the organization said on Facebook. "In those 2 days, our community has shown up and we could not be more thankful to everyone who has supported us!"
The shelter said fosters can take animals for short or long periods of time. Dogs can be taken for even short "lunch dates," where they leave the shelter for a few hours for exercise or alone time.
Anyone interested in fostering an animal can fill out a form here.
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