Numerous animal shelters across North Carolina are facing severe overcrowding issues with dogs, which has led to skyrocketing euthanasia levels across the Tar Heel state. Though many animal rescue nonprofit organizations work diligently to raise awareness of this issue, too many dogs need shelter, but there isn’t enough shelter space to hold them.
According to the 2023 Public Animal Shelter Report by the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, 8,843 dogs were euthanized across the 10 leading counties in the state for euthanization of dogs. Twenty percent of these took place in Robeson County, the leading county for euthanization in the state. 2024 data has not yet been released.
Located about a 90 minute drive south of Raleigh, Robeson County is a rural area with overcrowded public shelters as well as high euthanasia rates. In 2023, Robeson County Animal Protective Services took in 3,543 dogs according to the state report. Of those, 1,770 were euthanized, according to the same report.
Kate Waller, who lives in a neighboring county to Robeson, belongs to a humane animal trapping and recovery organization where she helps to rescue strays in hopes of finding them a home. When she moved from Virginia to North Carolina, she couldn’t believe what she saw.
“I was totally shocked when I moved here at the disregard for animals,” Waller said. “I’m not saying [Virginia] is perfect and there’s no room for improvement for animal welfare but [North Carolina] is a completely different ballgame.” And in regards to a lack of care for animals, Robeson County was unlike anything she had seen before. “Robeson County is an entirely different planet.”
Increasing euthanasia rates across the state could partially be due to changed lifestyles in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the 2020 Public Animal Shelter Report, 1,212 dogs were euthanized across Robeson County in 2020, yet, shelters in the county saw an approximate 46% increase years after the pandemic.
“Many people adopted animals when in-person roles switched to work from home,” Waller said. “When people had to go back into offices they realized they didn’t have time for a dog.” Waller said as a result, shelters have struggled to keep up with the intake.
Waller said she has rescued over a dozen animals in her lifetime, many of which have been strays. She has also contributed to their food as well as paid vet bills out of her own pocket. Though she has played a crucial role in helping find these animals a home, the crisis has lingered. Shelters are still overcrowded and many of these dogs have nowhere to go.
Many shelters are to the point where they are having to turn away dogs simply because of the lack of space. Waller, who found one stray dog through a humane trap, tried taking the dog to the shelter but was told it was not accepting strays. “They didn’t even offer to scan him for a microchip until I told them to.” Waller said that the shelter often tells her to just leave the dog where she found it when calling about strays. “It is absolute insanity how normalized animal abuse and disregard is, especially in Robeson County.”
The Robeson County shelter did not respond to several requests for comment.
Many factors play a role in shelter decisions about which dogs are going to be put down. The factors vary depending on the shelter’s capacity and can include anything from illness to history of aggression. “Illness definitely [plays a factor],” Waller said. “I would say age only because younger dogs are considered more adoptable to the public.”
Waller is currently fostering a dog from Cumberland County, which has the state’s 10th highest euthanization rate. The shelter originally planned to euthanize the dog due to its heartworm disease if it wasn’t fostered before the end of the stray hold.
Many rural counties lack pet laws, which contribute to the overcrowding and euthanization rates. Currently, many rural areas in the state have no laws against how many dogs a person can own, as long as the dog has food, water and some sort of shelter, and whether that shelter is indoor or outdoors does not matter. Ashley Nichols, who works with the nonprofit organization “Black Dog Club” in Johnston County, is concerned over the lack of laws in regards to pets.
“The animal laws in the state of North Carolina are complete crap,” Nichols said. “My next door neighbor could have eight dogs that are all tethered and as long as they have a doghouse and a bowl of water and food, it’s legal.” Such practices can lead to low human interaction and lack of socialization, which in turn can lead to aggressiveness.
“Unfortunately for those dogs, if they are deemed aggressive with humans or other animals, those are a lot of the dogs you see euthanized first because they are deemed unsafe,” Nichols said.
North Carolina also has no laws requiring the spaying and neutering of animals, which also contributes to overcrowded shelters and high euthanization rates. “There are no spay or neuter laws in North Carolina, so you can have what we call a backyard breeder,” Nichols said. “You can have nine dogs in a yard that aren’t spayed or neutered, and they keep having puppies over and over and there is no law against that.”
Nichols said she works closely with Chuck Lively, the Johnston County Animal Shelter supervisor, to help decrease the overcrowding and euthanization rates there. Nichols said she is a rescue puller, or a person who works with the shelter to help rehome dogs when the shelter gets tight in space. “Chuck will reach out to us and let us know [he’s getting tight on space] and we will actually go to the shelter to save them from being euthanized.”
Nichols says that Lively has been a big help in animal rescue missions. “Chuck has gone above and beyond,” Nichols said. “He works with a lot of different rescues in state and out of state to help with getting dogs out of the shelter and give rescues a chance.”
According to the 2023 Public Animal Shelter Report, Johnston County took in 1,695 dogs, and of those, 739 were euthanized. Lively said that all shelters are facing overcrowding. “The concerns are they [dogs] are not moving out anywhere near the rate they are moving in,” he explained.
Lively said he tries to address these concerns by being more selective about the dogs taken in, but adoptions are still very low. In addition to working with Nichols, Lively also works with SPCA organizations in Wake County to reduce his shelter’s euthanizations but says the number of those groups that have pulled from his shelter has gone down.
Rachael Champlin, another Johnston County resident, said she is aware of the concern and has adopted rescue dogs. “Adoption is far better because you’re giving an animal in need a forever home,” she said, adding that she wishes she could adopt more. “It breaks my heart when people get dogs for holidays and three months later they are back in the shelter.”
Photo contributed by Racbael Champlin
Maria Gambler, who lives in Columbus County, adopted a dog in December. According to the 2023 Public Animal Shelter Report, Columbus County was the fourth highest county for dog euthanization across the state. “I believe many people don’t fully understand the responsibility that comes with having a pet, and it’s heartbreaking that some get pets without knowing how to take proper care of them,” Gambler said.
Photo contributed by Maria Gambler
The ongoing issue with overcrowded shelters is also partially due to the high adoption fees. In North Carolina, adoption fees can vary from $30 to $400, depending on the location, and vary depending on the need for vaccinations, microchipping, spay and neutering. This doesn’t even begin to include the expenses needed to take care of a dog after the adoption process. This is why Columbus County resident Simona Fritz could not afford to adopt a dog, even though she wanted to. “I have tried adopting, but $350 and up is just too much for an average family to afford, which leads to overcrowding.” Fritz says the fee isn’t necessarily unreasonable due to the cost of feeding and caring for the animals in shelters, but the cost could worsen the overcrowding problem.
Though many factors come into play in overcrowded shelters and the high euthasia rates across the state, the lack of spay and neuter laws seems to be the main concern among those who work in shelters or the animal rescue community.
“If there were more spay and neuter laws and it was enforced, I don’t feel our shelters would be nearly as crowded as they are,” Nichols said. Lively added that North Carolina would not have such high rates if people would spay and neuter their dogs.