San Jose animal shelter at capacity, over 900 pets need homes

The San Jose Animal Care and Services Center is seeing record-high numbers of animals coming to the shelter, with more than 900 dogs, cats and other pets calling the shelter home as of late May.

Jay Terrado, the Deputy Director of the center, said what's happening in San Jose is part of a broader national crisis taking place in shelters across the country of more pets arriving and staying longer. With so many animals at the shelter, the center is pleading with the community to help out, and warning that their ability to help new animals is limited because of their strapped capacity.

As of late May, there were around 250 dogs and puppies, roughly 600 cats and kittens, and several dozen other pets, such as rabbits, at the shelter. To manage the number of animals in need of care, the shelter said it was only taking in sick, injured or aggressive pets, and asking the public to tap their networks – utilizing rehoming platforms like home-home.org or www.adoptapet.com, social media, and other channels – before turning an animal in at the center.

At the San Jose Animal Care and Services Center alone, the number of pets coming to the shelter jumped 85% from March to April of this year. The number of kittens jumped nearly 300% from March to April, with 743 kittens surrendered to the shelter last month alone. The shelter expects these numbers to worsen in the coming months, once "peak kitten season" begins in June.

"Now is a great time to consider fostering or adopting a shelter animal," San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement. "With our shelter at capacity, taking in an animal can save the life of another."

Adoptable animals can be found on the shelter's website.

The shelter has also opened up a new foster feature – Foster Fridays – which allows people to take a dog or kitten home for the weekend. Until June 30, the shelter will also be offering "on-the-spot training" for those interested in taking a dog or kitten home for the weekend.

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