TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — It's been five days since the July Fourth holiday, but the explosive festivities continue to cause big backups at Pima Animal Care Center (PACC), where kennels are over-capacity.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, over 100 animals were taken in, and now the push is on to get them adopted or back home to where they belong.
Kayleigh Murdock, PACC's public information officer, tells me summer is a stressful time of year for the shelter, especially after the Fourth of July.
"We've taken in 80 stray dogs and 51 stray cats. That, of course, doesn't include the animals coming in as owner surrenders, pets coming in from our animal protection team. So, we're definitely seeing a lot of animals come into the shelter," Murdock said.
Before the holiday, PACC had just under 500 animals in its shelter.
"We were already over capacity when this started," shared Murdock. "So, when we're facing situations like this where we see large influxes of animals at one time, that obviously puts even more strain on the shelter, on our resources, and of course on our space."
Murdock says it's a great time to make sure your pet's microchip is registered correctly with up-to-date information. She says many times, they scan the microchip, and the information is out of date.
"Every pet that comes into PACC is scanned for a microchip. If they do have one, we'll immediately call the owner to let them know the pet is here," said Murdock.
PACC can help if you're unsure if your pet's microchip has the correct contact information.
This Saturday, July 12, PACC is hosting its Dog Days of Summer event. This is PACC's biggest adoption event of the year. All pets will be free for adoption during the event.
It runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. PACC will also host special festivities during the event from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
PACC is located on the Westside at 4000 N. Silverbell Road.
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Jacqueline Aguilar is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born and raised in Yuma, AZ., she is no stranger to the unforgiving Arizona heat. Now this U of A wildcat is excited to be back in Tucson and is looking forward to involving herself in the community. Share your story ideas with Jacqueline by emailing jacqueline.aguilar@kgun9.com or connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
