HAWKINSVILLE, Ga. — It’s a rainy day for those in Central Georgia, but some would swear, it's raining cats and dogs out in Pulaski County with the amount of strays they deal with.
Hawkinsville Animal Control says their shelters are full and they need help from people who live there.
13WMAZ Jessica Cha shows you what's going on.
Joanna Wortham from Pulaski County is a big animal lover.
“Three dogs, nine cats. All rescues,” Wortham says.
However, she can’t say the same for others.
"There are strays every day,” she says. “It's horrible! They throw them in ditches, they throw them over here in the river. You know, the neighbors across the street have two cats and they have no idea where they came from.
Hawkinsville Animal Control manager, Chandra Toledo, says that their shelter is completely filled up and it stays that way.
Toledo says they're overwhelmed with how many calls they get.
“As soon as we move one, we pick one off the waiting list. We have not been even half full in two years,” she explains.
Toledo says on a busy week, they get at least 12 calls to pick up strays in both the city and county. With only one other worker at the shelter…
“12 is a lot for a small area,” she says.
Being a low-kill shelter, Toledo says it takes longer to move their animals.
“There's about seven dogs still waiting to be picked up. It's almost like you're fighting this battle constantly and you're never getting anywhere,” Toledo says. “There’s frustration because everyone accuses animal control that we’re not doing our job. We are.”
She says it's not only happening in their rural county.
It's everywhere.
“If their dog wanders off, they don't come to reclaim it if someone else picks it up thinking it's a stray,” she says.
She also says most strays are not spayed or neutered. Sometimes people cannot afford to keep their animals, so they just let them go free.
“We need large corporations to come in with big spay and neuter vans, education, and spend time in rural areas because that's where they need it most,” Toledo explains. “If we could reign back the litters that are happening, it would give rescues and shelters time to catch up. However, we have no opportunity to catch up because they're multiplying faster than we can move them. We'll never get ahead."
In the meantime, Wortham has some words of advice.
"Skip that pack of cigarettes for a couple of weeks, you know? Don't buy that pack of beer. People need to spay and neuter,” she says.
Hawkinsville Animal Control says you can contact them for help finding resources if it's not something you can afford.