WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas -- Dozens of lives on the line and only days to save them. This week, the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter alerted the community that about 100 cats at the shelter would need to be euthanized this weekend to relieve severe overcrowding.
It's the kind of predicament all animal shelters hope they never encounter.
"We were in a kitty crisis," said Misty Valenta with the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter. "We had way more cats than we could care for, over 200 cats in a facility that only has 93 kennels."
With such a burdensome overflow, volunteers at the no kill shelter feared the worst, having to euthanize about 100 cats and kittens.
"We haven't had to euthanize a healthy cat for six years, but we're seeing a trend of our cat intake, the amount of cats coming into our shelter is increasing every single year," Valenta said. "And if adoptions don't increase with that, we end up in situations like this"
(Photo courtesy of Williamson County Animal Shelter Facebook Page)
They put out a request Wednesday on Facebook, urging people to help rescue the cats. The shelter was planning a $1 adoption special for the weekend to sway potential adopters, but had to readjust.
"We made the decision if the community was ready to start right away, why wait for the weekend to save lives?" said Valenta.
After the shelter's plea went viral, dozens of people packed into the small lobby, eager to provide a forever home.
"We've had people come in from Buda and all sorts of far away places, driving an hour just to see if we had cats available," said Matt Diederich, Shelter Volunteer].
More than 90 cats were adopted in just two days, something the shelter says doesn't simply happen. By Friday afternoon, the shelter faced an unexpected situation.
(Photo courtesy of Williamson County Animal Shelter Facebook Page)
"We have never had to tell anyone that we are out of cats, that has never happened before!" Valenta said.
Out of adoptable cats that is, and just for the day. Some cats are still being prepped to meet their potential families, and now, when they're ready, there's room.
"Empty kennels because cats have gone to their forever homes brings a tear to all of our eyes," said Valenta.
The Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter says it will have more cats available for adoption throughout the weekend. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.