Amory Humane Society faces overcrowding issues
AMORY, Miss. (WCBI) – Amory’s animal shelter, like many in our area and across the country, faces a major problem: overcrowding.
But, Amory Humane Society Board member Leigh Ann Hubbard said they also face an added challenge.
“Last year when the tornado damaged our shelter, we had to move to a temporary facility that is about a third of the size of our normal facility. So that is one challenge. Now we have around 90 animals in our system and that’s over capacity even for our other shelter,” Hubbard said.
The shelter is having to double up animals in kennels to try to keep up.
However, Kennel Manager Jessie Jones said that is a solution that comes with its own problems.
“We’re having to double up dogs who don’t come in together, don’t know each other, different breeds, different sizes, and that can lead to a whole array of problems like disease spread, aggression issues, food aggression and things you don’t really notice until you try to put two dogs together because you have to and you have to make space. And it is the same issue with cats. You’ve got litters that come in, singletons that come in. There’s only so many kennels and so many cats you have to put in there,” Jones said.
There are things the community can do.
“There are five ways that the public can help, five main ways. One is volunteering. One is fostering. Adopting, if you’ve ever thought about it I know a lot of people put it off and say I don’t know well now is the time. Donating helps us prep these animals for transport to get them out of the area to get them to places with more adopters. And the fifth way is spay neuter, spay neuter, spay neuter. We have litters coming in one after the other and that contributes a lot to the overcrowding,” Hubbard said.
Hubbard said any help can make a difference.
“Nobody can do everything but if you can do one thing that adds up to a lot and it’s happening but we need people to stay with us for the long haul because these animals are going to keep coming in. This isn’t one time and it’s solved so we need people to stick with us and we believe they will,” Hubbard said.
Amory Humane Society is currently only taking animals from animal control. They are not taking owner surrenders.
You can reach out about fostering, donating, and volunteering at amoryshelter.com or call (662)597-2049.
