Orange County

Orange County Animal Services reaches capacity, stops accepting surrendered pets

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Animal Services is asking for the community’s help to find homes for the hundreds of animals in their care.

Between COVID-19 and inflation, many pets have been dropped off after owners can no longer afford to take care of them or no longer work from home. The number of owner surrenders has been so staggering that the shelter announced this week that they can no longer accept new surrenders.

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Typically, the shelter is able to fit 216 animals. They currently have 296 animals at the shelter, adding up to just under 500 when counting those in foster care.

Read: Orange County Animal Services waives adoption fees as overcrowding continues

While for now the shelter says it won’t need to deploy emergency sheltering, they do need more volunteers, fosters and donations to keep the place open and to care for these animals.

Click here for more information on how you can adopt, donate or volunteer to help.

Read: Petco Love donates $50K to support Orange County Animal Services

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Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.

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