09/15/2026
We need to tell you something we wish we didnāt have to say.
Today, Paws Humane Society will have to euthanize dogs for space.
There is no softer way to say it.
We have reached a point where there are more dogs coming through our doors than we have safe places to put them. Our kennels are full. Our foster homes are full. Our rescue partners are full. We have continued to say yes to dogs who needed somewhere to go for as long as we possibly could.
But we have reached our limit.
And this time, there isnāt another day to give them.
There isnāt another kennel we can clear. There isnāt another day we can wait and hope adoptions catch up. There isnāt another rescue partner with a space waiting.
Today, there will be dogs sitting in our shelter who deserve a chance, and we will have to make the heartbreaking decision to end their lives because there is nowhere else for them to go.
That is incredibly difficult for us to say because these dogs arenāt numbers to us.
We know their faces.
We know which ones press their noses against the kennel door when we walk by. We know which ones are terrified and slowly learning that people can be kind. We know which ones wiggle their entire bodies when someone stops to say hello. We know the ones who have been waiting quietly, hoping that today will finally be the day someone chooses them.
We know them. We care about them. And we donāt want to lose them.
Our staff will walk through those kennel doors tomorrow and continue to care for these dogs with the same compassion and dignity we have given them every day.
And please understand something:
The people who will carry out these decisions are the same people who have been fighting every day to save these dogs.
They are the ones staying late. Making calls. Cleaning kennels. Taking dogs home. Finding fosters. Calling rescues. Walking dogs. Sitting with frightened animals. Celebrating every adoption. And going home carrying the weight of the ones they couldnāt save.
Please donāt direct your anger at them.
They are not the reason we are here. They are the people who are carrying the burden of being here.
We know this will make people angry. We know it will make people heartbroken. We are angry and heartbroken too.
But we donāt want this to become normal.
We donāt want to keep reaching a point where the only way to make room for the next dog is to take a life from a dog who is already here.
We donāt want to write another post like this.
We need our community to help us change what happens next.
If youāve been thinking about adopting, please come meet a dog.
pawshumane.org/adopt
If you can foster, please open your home.
Dog foster application: https://www.shelterluv.com/matchme/foster/PHCV/Dog
If you can help a friend or neighbor keep their dog instead of surrendering them, please do.
If youāre part of a rescue organization that may have room, please reach out.
And if you canāt do any of those things, please share this. You may know the person who can.
We arenāt asking you to feel sorry for us.
Weāre asking you to understand what is happening inside our shelter and to help us keep it from happening again.
Because today, some dogs will lose their lives simply because we ran out of space.
And every person at Paws would give anything for that not to be true.
Please help us make sure we never have to say it again.
