LAKEWOOD, Colo- Colorado animal shelters continue to struggle with a high number of animals coming in. As National Rescue Dog Day came to an end on Saturday, it's not too late to do your part to help.
Kella Manfredi works with several local animal shelters through her work with PawsCo Animal Rescue and Underdogs Animal Rescue. She's rescued 88 dogs over the years.
"Of all 88 dogs, I have never had a behavioral problem. I've never had something that couldn't be handled or couldn't be fixed within a rescue environment or a vet," she said.
Denver7 has been closely covering shelters across the state hitting their capacity limit and it continues to be an ongoing problem. A quick search of shelter and rescue websites in the Denver Metro area shows more than 270 dogs are waiting for their forever home.
"There's just simply not enough room for all of these relinquishments and all of these strays that are coming in," said Manfredi, "Sometimes they're tripling up kennels, which is not ideal for anyone."
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When there's not enough room, some shelters may have to make the difficult decision to euthanize animals that are not getting adopted. Shelters partner with rescues and foster families to make more room in shelters, but even those resources are strained.
If your family is interested in adopting, Manfredi recommends doing your homework first to decrease the chance of needing to relinquish your new pet if it ends up not being a good fit.
"You need to think long term. Are you financially stable enough to handle any medical things that come up? You should really know. Be aware of how much an emergency bill will cost, do your due diligence on breed," she said.
