WEST OLIVE, Mich. — An Ottawa County animal shelter is in crisis mode as an influx of incoming pets has staff members overwhelmed and scrambling.
Harbor Humane put out a plea for help on Facebook after 23 cats arrived at the shelter on Tuesday alone.
READ MORE: ‘Absolutely relentless’: Harbor Humane pleads for help amid year of challenges, setbacks
“We thought, ‘okay, we’ve got this week. We’re [going to] get all caught up and everything’s [going to] be great.’ That was two and a half weeks ago, and we have taken in 165 new animals since then,” Allison Deters, the director of finance and administration for Harbor Humane Society, told FOX 17 Thursday.
The latest influx of animals put the total at more than 450. Foster families are caring for some of the animals, while the shelter’s staff of about 40 people is caring for the rest.
“Our staff, they work so hard and for so little pay, and they are all beyond the point of burnt out,” Deters explained. “The people here are passionate about what they do, and those are the people that we have to find, and they weather the storm. But even those kind of people can get burned out after so many months of constant stress.”
Deters added that the shelter, which is a nonprofit, has a balancing act when it comes to not only pets, but also the people they employ.
“We, unfortunately, don’t have the funds to pay everyone that, you know, $15 an hour. I wish we did, like absolutely wish we could, and we continuously raised our starting wage, but now all of a sudden, wages have exploded, and we just, we can’t keep up,” Deters said.
Harbor Humane says there are several ways you can help.
“First of all, choose adoption. The more adopters we have, the more animals we can get out of here. That creates a space for another animal in need,” Deters added.
You can also donate directly to the shelter or become a foster.
For more information about getting involved, click here.
Experts say that, when it comes to surrendering animals, a lot of times it's because of financial reasons, especially now during this time of high inflation.
The Humane Society of West Michigan has something called Kibble Konnection, which helps low-income families feed their pets.
There's also Pleasant Hearts Pet Food Pantry in Grand Rapids that not only helps with food, but also the cost of microchipping, spaying and neutering.
