Clear the Shelters: Ames Animal Shelter struggling with overcrowding

AMES, Iowa — The Ames Animal Shelter cares for about 1,000 pets every year.  While the shelter has a good track record of adopting out those animals, the nearly 30-year-old building has run out of space and recent cat hoarding cases are only adding to the overcrowding problem.

“On August 5th we took in 22 cats and one dog from a single residence. The cats were in pretty poor shape, lack of food, water, any type of vet care whatsoever,” said Ron Edwards, Animal Control Supervisor for the Ames Animal Shelter sand Animal Control.

Now Princess is enjoying the good life, watching “Cat TV’ with her sisters, and doing her best to live up to her name at the shelter.

“Princess is a beautiful one that definitely needs a good home, but all of them do,” explained Edwards.

He says each hoarding case becomes more difficult. They’re trying to house more rescues in their small building. In fact, the shelter has gotten so crowded, staff is using a trailer in the back to help with overflow.

“The shelter is a very stressful place so we want to be able to do the very best that we can for them. We’re taking them from horrible situations sometimes and we want to make sure we’re doing better for them,” said Edwards.

It’s kitten season and the problem is about to get worse before it gets better. Cute as they are, these furballs make it hard for the adult cats to compete. Yet each pet heading out the door frees up more space that is needed now more than ever.

To learn more about the adoption process visit the shelter’s website .

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