More than 600 homeless dogs and cats stretch AARCS to limit

A Calgary-based animal shelter with more than 600 homeless cats and dogs in its care says it's being forced to turn some people away, at least until more adopters come forward.

In the past couple of weeks alone, the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society has been inundated with callsand has taken in 94 dogs and 80 cats, the agency says.

In total, more than 300 dogs and 300 cats are currently housed by AARCS.

Executive director Deanna Thompsonsays the agency has been forced to start a wait list as it makes room at the shelter.

"We focused our efforts on stray and abandoned animals, not so much owner surrenders," said Thompson.

"But we do want to be able to help out wherever we can, so we've got a wait list going and right now we're just hopeful that people will come forward to adopt, whether it be a dog or cat."

Thompson says it's unclear what's driving the sudden influxbut noted that pets not being spayed or neutered appears to be an issue.

"The majority of the animals that come into our care are not fixed, and some of them are coming in with nine, 10 puppies or eight kittens," she said.

More than 200 animals are ready for adoption, including a litter of puppies and many kittens.

Thompson says the organization is in need of more adoptions and donations, as well as fosters.

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With files from DianeYanko.