In Rutherford County the animal shelter has an unusual problem.
"In January we really started to notice 'hey we don't have a lot of dogs on our floor or cats'," said PAWS Director Michael Gregory.
They simply don't have enough animals. Friday around six cats and eight dogs made for what looked like slim pickings.
But Michelle Clemons wasn't deterred by the rows of empty cages.
"He's sweet as can be, you can tell for a cat he's just sitting here looking around, letting you hold him," she said, holding the newest member of her family.
Clemons took home two cats she's been wanting for weeks.
The Rutherford County community is growing. Adoptions are up and so are spay/neuter surgeries thanks to a county initiative to prove 1,000 surgeries free of charge. Gregory thinks that, along with a more aggressive promotional campaign has made an impact.
The shelter even brought eight kittens in from another county shelter for the first time ever last month
"They were all gone probably within 10 days or so," Gregory said.
For the most part, it's a good problem to have.
"You kind of have to find that fine line!" Gregory laughed. But he worries about his customers.
"If we don't have it they're gonna start looking elsewhere," he said.
Young animals are an especially hot commodity with around 100 people coming through the shelter every day. Puppies and kittens sometimes get snapped up within an hour of being on the floor.
"We normally don't do surgeries on Fridays (but) we did surgery on those two kittens this morning just because I wanted to get the on the floor so we'd have a couple kittens before the weekend," Gregory said, pointing to a black and white kitten sharing a cage. Within minutes the white kitten was already out the door.
The good news for folks interested in a companion, is with spring pregnancies the population is sure to go up soon.
For now they're doing what they can to make sure families like Clemons, her fiance and her daughter are going home happy.
"I can't wait to get him home and let him play with his new family!" she said.
