Anderson animal shelter that is severely overcrowded begs for assistance

Anderson, Indiana – Anderson is in dire need of assistance in protecting animals.

According to the Animal Protection League, the facilities and offices of the shelter are overflowing with cats and dogs.

Maleah Stringer, director of the Animal Protection League said, “The animals are losing their minds in these conditions. The stress level is so high that they’re becoming things that they were never meant to be.”

The shelter can house up to 100 animals, but it currently has around three times as many dogs and cats living in substandard conditions. The Anderson branch of the Animal Protection League reports that food and water bowls as well as crates are running low. Additionally, in order to meet demand, more volunteers are required.

Stringer said, “It’s awful. Stress is through the roof but, in the last two years, the stress for myself, my staff, and volunteers, it’s horrible. Literally, we’re falling apart.”

Joslin Bronnenberg, a volunteer, said, “It never stops. There’s no break. You don’t get a break. You don’t feel like, ‘Oh, I just want to volunteer one or two days a week.’ At this point, you feel like you have to volunteer, you have to be here, and you have to show up, and so they do. We all do.”

An increasing number of animals are being brought in by the animal shelter after being saved from appalling circumstances.

A few cats were let loose in the office, and a dog was living with her puppies in a bathroom.

Stringer said, “We have a mom and three puppies that were abandoned in a house. They were eating dried rice. So, we’re going to try to press charges for the people who abandoned them.”

The shelter director says Indiana needs new laws that can help address the situation. “When was the last time you heard anything happening for somebody who abandoned an animal, for somebody who beat an animal, or somebody who did any of these horrific things, or somebody who is breeding these pit bulls over and over again?”

Stringer says they’re trying their best to move forward. “As these animals succumb to the stress sometimes we have to make hard decisions. It is not compassionate to let animals live in this condition for very long.”

The Animal Protection League invited people to lend their support by sharing the shelter’s Facebook posts or by donating money.