PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The city’s animal care and control provider is forced to euthanize dogs because there is no room at the shelter to care for them. ACCT Philly is in desperate need of adopters and foster households, and there’s an incentive for animal rescue organizations in the region to take larger dogs.
ACCT Philly has more than 100 dogs available for adoption in the kennel space, and overflow animals are being kept in crates in staffers’ offices.
Lack of space has forced the organization to put time stamps on dogs and to euthanize them when their time runs out — not because they have behavioral problems, but simply because there is no room.
“We start with the dogs that have been with us the longest. So, every day, a couple of dogs are time stamped for five days. A dog timed stamped [on Monday] … goes on the website and everywhere saying: If this dog doesn’t find placement by Saturday, the dog will be euthanized. And it goes into detail about the dog and why they are here and everything we know about them,” said Sarah Barnett, executive director.