100,000 dogs and cats facing euthanasia as people return adopted pets to animal shelters

Animal shelters getting overcrowded during pandemic

As folks return to work after spending months working from home, more pets are being sent to animal shelters.

LOS ANGELES - They're our best friends. They know when we're sad and are always loyal and happy to see us.

Now, these adorable fur babies need our help more than ever.

"We’re facing a crisis in America’s animal shelters because there are 100,000 more cats and dogs sitting in America’s shelters right now compared to the same time last year," said Holly Sizemore, the chief mission officer with Best Friends Animal Society.

The reason – more pets are going into animal shelters and not as many coming out. On top of that, shelters are suffering staffing shortages and adoptions are down.

"Now everybody is thankfully back to work and sort of back to real life and I think a lot of people realize they can’t handle the commitment of having a pet. So a lot of animals are going back to the shelters unfortunately, and we’re there to pick them up and help get them a different home," said Lesley Brog, the chief animal lover and founder of Wags and Walks.

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Best Friends Animal Society says last year, U.S. shelters euthanized nearly 350,000 dogs and cats, simply because they didn’t have a safe place to call home.

Volunteers are now urging people to step up and save a life.

"Two cats are being killed for every dog in America’s shelters. So our pitty friends and our kitty friends need all the support they can get," Sizemore said.

For more information on Best Friends Animal Society, click here. To learn more about Wags and Walks, click here.

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