Some area animal shelters are experiencing a sudden increase in animal drop offs, and as the holidays approach, they're trying to free up space by encouraging adoptions.
"We are in every nook and cranny of this building. We have used every space that we can possibly use," said Debbie Sims, Community Outreach Coordinator for Williamson County Animal Center.
Shelter workers know they can never stop pushing to get animals loving homes. There's too much at stake to slow their efforts. For the shelter's young animals, it's easy.
"It seems to be a seasonal problem that around the holidays each shelter starts to fill up,"said Sims.
Not all of the cats are young. Each animal here could help fill a number of family situations, like Milan, an older cat. Plus, all of the shelter's dogs. Many of the animals have been brought in recently. In fact, there has been a burst in drop offs.
"The weather is getting colder. People are more acutely aware of their needs and they pick them up and bring them in. We get a lot of strays that are found in our county," said Sims.
They've already had more cats dropped off than in all of 2017.
The dog situation is tight too. Shelter staff is not sure how many they have, but it's a lot more than usual.
Still, the main goal never really changes.
"We've been calling on the community to come and adopt. So, we can free up space at our shelter to put more animals into adoption and into forever homes," she said.
