PITTSFIELD, Mass. - The Berkshire Humane Society is overwhelmed with the amount of animals they have and they're asking the community for help. The shelter received seven more cats from Adams Animal Control Wednesday morning.
“Three months ago, we had empty enclosures,” cat room volunteer Julie Jones said.
What You Need To Know
- The Berkshire Humane Society is overwhelmed with more than 140 shelter animals and high demand for animal services
- There are waiting lists for people to surrender cats, dogs and small animals. BHS said they will continue to take pets if it's an emergency situation and is working with pet owners on the waiting lists
- The nonprofit said people can help by adopting a homeless animal or sponsoring an animal’s adoption, donating cash or goods, providing a specialized foster home or volunteering
- BHS is taking $100 off dog and cat adoption fees through July 15 and waiving adoption fees of all small animals except rabbits
Jones been volunteering for about two and a half years. She said it’s a full house right now and BHS still has a waiting list of people looking to surrender their pets.
“Today, every one of the enclosures is full," Jones said. "Just a lot of cats, a lot of kittens, it's that time of year. You just do what you can do one step at a time.”
“I haven't seen numbers like this probably since the late 90's,” executive director John Perreault said.
Perreault said they have more than 140 cats, dogs, and small animals, and they’re not the only ones who are overwhelmed.
“Our fellow shelters around New England and New York, have been seeing the increase in full kennels and condos for six to eight months now," Perreault said.
Perreault believes higher inflation is a big reason why so many pets need homes.
“People relate it to COVID and it is related to COVID, in my opinion, but it's not related to people that ran out and got adoptions during COVID and are bringing them into returning them to the shelter now that their lives are back to normal," he said. "We are seeing people that are losing their homes. The financial situation currently, we are seeing people that are financially strapped that really can't care for a pet.”
As more owners surrender their pets, the humane society said volunteers like Diane Bevin are crucial to their mission of getting animals ready for adoption.
“I feel I'm trying to make their lives their day a little bit happier and relieve a little bit of tension off the incredible staff here," Bevan said "Just, they seem to be here to almost 24 hours a day, even though they're not, it just seems like they are because they're so overwhelmed right now.”
“We and most other shelters could not do what we do without our volunteers," Perreault said. "Without them, we would not be at 140, 50, 60, 70 capacity without their help. We just could not do it.”
The Berkshire Humane Society is currently taking $100 off dog and cat adoption fees through July 15, and Perreault said the deadline may be extended. Within the last week, they’ve had about 20 adoptions and they need more to free up some space.