Hawkins County Humane Society at capacity

ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) – The Hawkins County Humane Society has been overrun with animals and no longer has the space for more.

“We have a bunch of makeshift kennels that we’ve put up,” said Jackie Catterson, assistant manager at the Humane Society. “We have dogs in crates, we have crates on top of some crates, because we’re just trying to make room for everybody.”

The Humane Society has had to turn other rooms into dog rooms just to house the massive intake of animals they have experienced. Catterson told News Channel 11 that they can house about 30 dogs comfortably but currently have almost 60 animals.

“We need to get some animals out because, number one, it’s not fair to them to be stuck in cages all day,” Catterson said. “Because it’s no life, but what are we going to do?”

Catterson believes one reason more animals are getting dropped off at the shelter is because the price of pet food has become too expensive.

“We get phone calls every day people want to bring in their dogs, people have a litter of puppies they want to get rid of and we just don’t have the space to put in anymore,” Catterson said.

The community can lend a hand by bringing in donations to help the shelter and the animals in need.

“We need dog food and bleach because we clean all the time with bleach,” Catterson said. “And cat food, with the amount of dogs we have, we go through an awful lot of dog food every day.”

The Hawkins County Humane Society is having a special with low-cost adoption fees until Saturday, July 20.

Catterson said they are also planning to expand the facility and hope to break ground on a new building sometime next year.

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