Six years ago, Heather Nicely, an employee at Love Connections Dog Rescue, reportedly said the hardest part of her job was making a decision between raising $20,000 for a dog that was hit by a car, and perhaps never having a great time again. quality of life, or sacrificing them.
Now, the emotional exhaustion of her work has skyrocketed amid what seems like a never-ending cycle of taking in shelter dogs within euthanasia deadlines, preventing more animals from being left in shelters, and rehoming dogs so they can save more.
“It seems like no matter how many dogs you save, there are still many more that turn up at our feet and are dead,” Nicely said.
Rescues, shelters and volunteers are all fighting to combat an ongoing animal homelessness crisis in Maricopa County and the state as a whole.
In 2021, Maricopa County Animal Care and Control had an average inventory of 503 animals per day. So far in 2024, the average daily inventory is 790 animals, according to communications supervisor Kim Powell.
With the increase in the number of animals in its care, Maricopa County Animal Care and Control has also seen a significant increase in the length of time dogs stay at the shelter. The average length of stay of nine days has increased to 17 days, Powell said.
As of Monday morning, MCACC’s West Shelter had 850 dogs in its care. The shelter’s capacity is 650 dogs.
How is MCACC adjusting to the increase in dogs?
With 200 more dogs than the shelter has room for, MCACC is implementing a series of changes in an attempt to combat the current overcapacity crisis, including waiving adoption fees during the month of July.
In partnership with the BISSELL Pet Foundation, the shelter is hosting an “Empty the Shelters” event where all adoption fees will be waived for dogs six months and older from July 3-31. The goal, Powell said, is to get as many dogs as possible to their forever homes and make room for stray or lost dogs that arrive.
Another change the shelter may have to make when their numbers are so high is modifying kennel spaces to make room for more dogs. This could mean sharing a kennel between two dogs if it’s safe, or dividing larger kennels in half to make room for an extra dog, Powell said.
Split kennels are external kennels, which have an inner half and an outer half, connected by a small opening. When they are divided to house two dogs, one of them remains outside for up to three days at a time.
Precautions are taken to keep outdoor dogs safe, Powell said, including misting and air systems. However, sharing kennels brings another problem, as dogs experience more stress in smaller spaces.
Powell said MCACC also changed the criteria for dogs to be added to the priority placement portal – the list of dogs with euthanasia deadlines. The change in the portal’s priority criteria happened when the shelter reached 750 dogs and will return to normal criteria when it becomes full again.
The goal of the portal, Powell said, is to inform the community which dogs need immediate placement.
“They are put into our portal, which allows our partners at New Home to see these dogs and take them out, which means they take them out of here and take them to different rescue groups,” said Samantha Thurman, animal medical director at New Home. MCACC. “If they are not removed, after being given this deadline, euthanasia will take place.”
In 2022, 10.2% of fostered dogs ended up in the priority placement portal. So far, in 2024, 12.76% of tickets have been placed on the portal.
Even with increased intake, MCACC has maintained an average annual save rate of 95%, which refers to the number of dogs that are not euthanized.
Dogs on the priority placement list are often quickly adopted or picked up at local rescue shelters, which can give dogs the extra resources they need, Powell said.
How have the criteria changed for the priority placement portal?
Typically, dogs are added to the priority placement portal if they are sick and have not responded to treatment within 14 days or if they display dangerous behavioral tendencies.
Dogs with deadlines for behavioral reasons receive a five-day deadline, Powell said, while dogs with medical conditions range from three to nine days, depending on the severity of the condition.
Starting Monday, the criteria changes are for dogs with bites on their records that would otherwise be adoptable or if the dog has evidence in its history that it cannot safely be around other dogs.
The high-stress environment of an overcrowded shelter leads to more behavioral and health problems for dogs and puts staff at risk, Powell said.
“A dog that already has a history of biting is likely to bite again and therefore in this high-stress environment this could become a safety risk to our staff,” Powell said.
“There are so many dogs here, and in the stressful environment, it puts other dogs and people at risk.”
Making the decision to change the portal’s priority criteria was painful for the team, Powell said.
“It’s just not a good position to be in and it’s really heartbreaking for everyone when you have to put a deadline on a dog, let alone go through that euthanasia process, because we all know the dogs here,” Powell said. “We all love them.”
Keeping dogs in high-stress environments is harmful to the dogs’ physical and mental health, Thurman said. For sick dogs, the isolation process in an overcrowded shelter often leads to worsening health conditions and the spread of disease.
“Part of the concern is the euthanasia process for space, which we are definitely not doing,” Thurman said. “If we can’t isolate them properly, no one will stay healthy. And then you have the stress of being in the shelter, which weakens the immune system.”
As tensions rise at the shelter, two dogs were removed from surgery under anesthesia last month because of a threat made against the organization, Powell said. According to an MCACC Facebook post, both dogs were safe and all animals at the shelter were safe.
Local rescue partners also struggle to accept more dogs
MCACC partners with several local animal rescue organizations through the New Hope Program, which strives to help dogs in priority placement receive the support they need and find homes.
However, as the ongoing capacity crisis grows in Maricopa County, rescue groups are also struggling to take in more dogs. This made the work extremely stressful, said Alison Nicolosi, founder of the local rescue.
“I hate it now because I went there and personally met some of these dogs that are on the e-list, and they are good dogs,” said Nicolosi, founder of AZ Husky Rescue.
“They are really good dogs. They just need a specific house. These temporary changes they have made have stressed many of the rescue partners at this time.”
Nicely, who works in operations and public relations at Love Connections Dog Rescue, said that while working in rescue has never been easy, the capacity crunch has made it significantly more difficult.
Volunteers are exhausting the emotional, mental and physical capacity that the work demands, Nicely said.
“We are taking in more dogs than we can handle, which means we are driving a lot more, caring for a lot more and sleeping a lot less,” Nicely said.
No matter how many dogs you save, there are always more, well said. “We just have to keep trying until it breaks us.”
What is causing the overcapacity crisis?
The crisis was built on several issues, Powell said, including a lack of spaying and neutering, a lack of dog identification and tracking, and abandonment.
One of the main causes of the overcapacity crisis is owners not spaying or neutering their pets, Powell said. This means more puppies are born, often accidentally, than people can care for.
There has also been a national shortage of veterinarians, Powell said, making it more difficult for owners to spay or neuter their pets and also causing longer wait times for spay and neuter surgeries within the shelter.
Spaying or neutering their animals is one of the main ways individuals can help in the crisis, Powell said.
Unneutered male dogs are also more likely to run away, Powell said. Lost and stray dogs are another major contributor to the shelter population.
The shelter receives many entries without microchips or identification tags. According to Powell, only 13% of lost dogs are returned to their owners.
What can you do to help?
Powell said pet owners can microchip their pets, so if they get lost, it will be easy to locate their family.
MCACC is offering free microchips through the end of the year in hopes of combating this problem.
As the Fourth of July approaches, Powell emphasized the importance of identifying your pet. The holiday is one of the busiest times of year for the shelter, as dogs are more likely to run away in fear of fireworks.
“Even if you think, oh, my dog never ran away last year, don’t just assume he’s not going to run away this year,” Powell said.
“If you know your dog is afraid of fireworks or if you’re not sure, go out with him and keep an eye on him. Make sure they are wearing a collar and ID tag and have a microchip. Just make sure they are prepared and you will be prepared if they run away.
Lack of resources is another contributor to the overall crisis. Although Maricopa County’s population has greatly increased in recent years, the county has not expanded shelters to a level that could accommodate the need.
A second MCACC shelter opened in the East Valley in May with the goal of moving dogs quickly and reducing average length of stay, but there still aren’t enough kennels for all the dogs they take in, Powell said.
She said the county Board of Supervisors recently approved funding for a new shelter in West Valley that will increase overall capacity.
One of the best ways people can help in the current crisis is by adopting and caring for dogs. Promotion, in particular, is a big help, Nicolosi said.
It’s often harder to find fosters than adopters, Nicolosi said, as people who can’t commit to adoption may overestimate the commitment needed to adopt. There are many adoption options, from long-term commitments to holiday adoption.
Nicolosi said vacation fosters refer to people who briefly care for a dog in a long-term foster home while the foster is away.
Individuals can also help by participating in MCACC’s “Tails Around Town” program, in which participants take a dog for the day to get them out of the shelter and into view of potential adopters.
“It’s a community issue,” Powell said. “It’s hard work. There are an overwhelming amount of dogs in the Phoenix area alone, let alone in northern Arizona and other states. Its a big problem. But if we all work together, I think we can find a great solution.”
This article originally appeared in the Arizona Republic: Maricopa County Animal Shelters Rescue Fight Against Overcapacity
