By: Suzie Gilbert

The animals at Callaway Hills Animal Shelter are waiting to be adopted.

The shelter has been at full capacity for more than two months now.

Abandoned pets are not what usually comes to mind with a recession, but workers at the shelter say tough economic times have flooded them with animals, so many that the shelter simply can't take in any more.

"Part of it is from people, you know, losing, you know, losing their homes and they're calling needing to place their animals.  We get a lot of calls like that," Callaway Hills Manager Mary Hall said.

Not only are more people giving up their pets, but workers say fewer people are showing up to adopt pets.

Patty Forister with the Central Missouri Humane Society in Columbia says a lot of calls are from long-time pet owners.

"Some people just can't afford to keep them anymore,” Forister said. “Some people allow their animals to have puppies or kittens and then they have too many and they can’t find them homes, so they just bring them to us."

Fortunately the Columbia shelter hasn’t had to turn any animals away partly because of an infusion of cash from a nationwide contest.

The Jefferson City shelter has also seen an increase in animals, and although they have almost reached their limit on cats, they are still accepting pets as long as the owner lives in Cole County.

Officials say this overpopulation problem can be easily prevented. 

They say it’s important to have your pets spayed or neutered and to keep in mind adopting a pet is a life-long commitment.

“Try very, very hard to keep your pet,” Forister said. “They want to be with you. They don’t want to be here at a shelter.”

According to the humane society around seven million animals enter shelters nation-wide each year and only about three million are adopted.