Louisville shelter begins euthanizing animals due to overcrowding – Courier Journal

Louisville Metro Animal Services‘ shelter has lost no-kill status and has begun euthanizing animals due to overcrowding.
LMAS spokesperson Teeya Barnes told The Courier Journal Friday that staffers had euthanized two dogs Tuesday “because we are out of room, time and space” at the shelter, which has waived reclaim fees along with adoption fees for dogs over 40 pounds. The euthanizations were the first LMAS took part in since 2017.
“We need people to foster large dogs, they’re the ones that are at risk,” Barnes added. “We’re asking people that can foster to please contact us.”
Overcrowding among animals at the shelter is not a new issue. The facility was at or over maximum capacity for most of 2022, Barnes noted. LMAS issued two warnings that it may have to drop no-kill status over the course of the year, in early July and late October, due to capacity issues. More than 7,000 animals entered the shelter in 2021 alone, according to a city report, and in October officials said it had taken in 6,296 cats and dogs since the start of 2022.
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The city’s animal shelter is located at 3528 Newburg Road and is open from noon to 6 p.m. every day except Sunday.
“LMAS will continue doing everything we can to save animals’ lives and avoid euthanizing more dogs for lack of space, but we are pleading with our community to visit us today to adopt or foster a shelter pet,” Barnes said in a statement on behalf of the department.
More information about how to foster or adopt a pet is available on LMAS’s website.
Reach Lucas Aulbach at [email protected].

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