The Animal Care and Control Centre (ACCC) has had to stop accepting healthy adult cats for one week because it is over capacity.
The facility said the one-week period will start on Friday, July 13.
During that time, the ACCC will move animals to partner agencies that offer shelter to cats.
Injured or sick cats, as well as kittens, will still be accepted at the centre.
READ MORE: Shelter cats in Calgary & Edmonton to benefit from quality-of-life program
The ACCC’s goal is to return lost animals to their owners and work with other organizations to help animals in care find forever homes.
Each year, it takes in more than 4,000, only 16 per cent of which end up being returned to owners.
Staff are now encouraging anyone who is considering adopting a cat to do so through agencies like the Edmonton Humane Society (EHS).
READ MORE: Edmonton Humane Society takes in 9 kitten litters from Grande Prairie
On the same day the ACCC announced its overcapacity issue, the humane society announced free adoptions for all cats and kittens.
The EHS announced Thursday that adoption fees for felines would be waived from July 12 until July 31.
People who adopt cats can choose to give a donation instead.
READ MORE: ‘Kitten season is out of control’: Alberta animal shelters overcapacity
“The spring and summer months are always the busiest time for our shelter and partner agencies such as Animal Care and Control and local rescues,” CEO Miranda Jordan-Smith said. “Adoption specials like the one we are promoting now will help us to find homes for animals sooner, so we can continue to make space for other animals in need of our services.”
The EHS works closely with the ACCC and said that centre is at 137 per cent of its capacity for cats.
Both organizations hope that by freeing up space at EHS through increased adoptions, more animals can be transferred in for re-homing.
“The same capacity issues are faced by shelters each year and one of the primary reasons is cat overpopulation,” Jordan-Smith said. “We want to take this opportunity to remind people to spay and neuter their pets. Having your pet microchipped also increases the chance it will be returned to you should it go missing, reducing the number of animals in shelters.”
To view cats available for adoption – who are all spayed/neutered and have their first set of vaccinations – visit the Edmonton Humane Society’s website.
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