If your thinking of adopting a new furry friend, now is the time. Minneapolis Animal Care and Control has reached capacity and are lowering adoption fees.
Over half of the pets brought into the shelter are surrendered by their owners, and are in need of a home. Animal shelter supervisor Danielle Joerger says they need more pets to be adopted as the shelter becomes too crowded.
"The more cramped in the dogs are, especially, they get a lot more stressed," says Joerger. "So the kennels are extremely loud right now. Everyone's very anxious, dogs are having a harder time because they have to go walk past a bunch of other loud, scary dogs and they tend to cage fight or things like that. We use medications to try to help with that, but there's only so much we can do and really what they need is a home."
MACC's goal this winter is to help remove barriers for people owning pets and to get their animals into loving homes.
"So we're really trying to continue to get that word out there that yes, dogs come in and cats come in and other critters too," explains Joerger. "Sometimes we have other little things as well and if they don't get to go home with their owner or if they're released to us because they can't care for them, our next goal is to get them adopted or placed."
For Minneapolis residents, all fees have been waived. You just need to pay for a license and if you’re an animal lover but can’t adopt, Joerger said the shelter is always looking for volunteers.
For non-residents fees are $100 for adult dogs and could be as low as $25 for cats.