Animal shelters become overcrowded again after pandemic adoptions dwindle

PLEASANTON — Stroll into any animal shelter and your heart melts. At the Valley Humane Center in Pleasanton, they are at capacity.

“We have about twenty-three animals in the building,” said Melanie Sadek who runs the center. 

She reached out to KPIX 5 in desperation, saying, “We are at a crisis level.”

Sadek says there are more animals in shelters right now nationwide than are leaving. Compare that to 2020 during the pandemic when shelters had record adoptions.

She said some of the animals have been here for nine months. One of the dogs is named O’Ryan who is shy, lovable, and ready to go home to a loving family.

Everyone wants to see the sign on an animal’s door that reads it has been adopted. But Sadek also added that there are things we can all do to help if you can’t take an animal home.

She said she would love it if people went to joinsharethecare.org where It lists ways you can be a champion for animals in your own community. 

“You can adopt a shelter in your area, you can foster, volunteer, donate, even be a social media champion for an animal on a website and share it out with your own network and help these animals find new homes,” said Sadek.