OWENSBORO, Ky. (WEHT) — Animal shelters in the Tristate are looking to the public to help combat overcrowding. The Daviess County Animal Shelter says, with over 100 cats and an estimated 100 dogs, the shelter is forced to utilize non-traditional spaces to house animals.

Leading up to this announcement, the Evansville Animal Care and Control revealed via Facebook that they were able to receive help from Vanderburgh and Warrick County after having no availability for dogs.

“We are so grateful for Warrick Humane Society and Vanderburgh Humane Society answering our pleas for help. They were able to take dogs from us so that we could open up some room,” said the Evansville animal facility on social media.

It Takes A Village No Kill Rescue shared recently that they had more animals in their care than at any other time in their 13 year history, with total of 247.

Officials say, once at capacity, rescues can turn away animals. However, the county animal shelter’s open intake policy means they don’t turn any away. Still, at some point, decisions have to be made that can be difficult for everyone involved.

“It doesn’t mean that they want to or that something is innately wrong with that animal. It’s just that the animal has been here for 3-4 months, and there’s been no interest, or if it came in as a stray, nobody’s [come] into claim it,” said Angie Padgett, a volunteer at the Daviess County Animal Shelter.

Daviess County has lowered adoption fees to $30 for kittens and waived the fee completely for adult cats. Padgett says adoption helps but is a means to an end for a reoccurring issue.

“This is a nationwide problem right now. They’re seeing huge numbers of intakes of animals. Adoptions are down and intakes are up. This is something that we’re not going to just be able to adopt our way out of,” said Padgett.

The third year volunteer says other ways to locally combat the issue are by evaluating pet owner responsibilities with work-life responsibilities prior to adoptions and spaying and neutering. The shelter says they can assist with spaying and neutering through the services offered at their veterinary clinic.