City Shelter, Local Rescues Beyond Capacity With Cats — And Kitten Season Isn’t Over

LITTLE VILLAGE — On Monday afternoon, about a dozen people stood in line outside Chicago Animal Care and Control to surrender their cats and dogs.

As the city’s only municipal shelter, Animal Control accepts surrendered animals 3-7 p.m. daily at its facility at 2741 S. Western Ave. But by about 4:15 p.m. Monday, shelter workers said the agency had reached capacity for cats and wouldn’t be able to accept anymore that day.

It’s a persistent issue recently: Chicago is in the midst of a booming cat season, with Animal Control and shelters struggling to keep up with the number of cats being sent to them. That’s left some people with no place to take pets they wish to surrender.

When Little Village resident Omar Hernandez got in line at 3 p.m. Monday to surrender his two pet cats, there were about 10 people ahead of him, he said. Hernandez’s landlord is enforcing a no-pet policy and he has 10 days to surrender or re-home them or face eviction, he said.

Hernandez said a worker provided him with alternative places he could try, like The Anti-Cruelty Society, 510 N. LaSalle Drive, and he doesn’t plan to return to Animal Control. Workers suggested people could also return another day and get in line as early as 2:30 p.m. to increase their chances of successfully surrendering cats.

But Back of the Yards resident Aurelio Rodriguez, who was looking to surrender her 1-year-old black cat, said she wasn’t provided with any information or resources upon being turned away. Rodriguez got in line at about 3:10 p.m. Monday, and there were about 15 people ahead of her, including several with cats, she said.

“The lady at the door, right now, she said anybody with cats has to come back another day,” Rodriguez said. “I’ll find her a home.”

To create space for incoming animals, Animal Control is hosting a cat adoption event with waived adoption fees. The event is noon-4 p.m. Saturday at Animal Control, 2741 S. Western Ave.

Kitten Season

During “kitten season,” which runs spring through summer, shelters nationwide typically have more kittens and cats come through the doors, Animal Control spokesperson Armando Tejeda said.

That’s long been a challenge for local shelters and Animal Control.

Unlike dog housing, Animal Control’s cat capacity is fluid, with about 130 small cat housing spaces if all kennel connectors are closed, Tejeda said. Animal Control had over 200 cats in its care as of Tuesday morning — higher than its usual population — and it’s taking in an average of 26 cats per day this month, he said.

Animal Control is open admission, which means it is supposed to accept every animal. But in 2024, Animal Control stopped routinely taking in healthy, free-roaming outdoor cats, Tejeda said. It also isn’t required to take in owner-surrendered animals under city ordinance, he said.

“However, [Animal Control] does accept owner-surrendered pets when capacity and resources allow,” Tejeda wrote in an email. “When residents need to surrender a large number of cats, staff will often work with them on a managed intake plan, such as bringing animals in over time rather than all at once. This is not a new practice and has long been part of how we responsibly manage shelter capacity while continuing to serve the public.”

On Wednesday, Animal Control intake appeared to run as normal. Little Village resident Melissa Vera went to drop off a 2-month-old stray kitten that struggled to open its eyes, getting in line at 2:30 p.m. — 30 minutes before intake began.

Over the years, Vera has visited Animal Control four times to drop off stray kittens. She’s only been turned away once, she said.

“They’re polite; they really take in whatever animals they can,” Vera said. “If they can’t, they’ll tell them to come back tomorrow, earlier than today, so they can get a chance to … get the help they need.”

Michael Rodriguez, who surrendered four stray kittens to Animal Control this month, was one of the people in line Monday. He waited for about an hour and a half before being helped, he said.

While Animal Control workers told him they weren’t accepting any more cats that day, the shelter made an exception when Rodriguez said the kitten was sick.

It was a “pretty smooth experience, just a waiting game,” he said. “With cats, they cut it off a lot earlier than dogs, because I guess they don’t have a lot of space back there.”

Rodriguez was previously given a tracking number to follow the kittens’ adoption journeys. Last he checked, three of the kittens were at a rescue in suburban Wheaton, he said.

Working With Shelters

When Animal Control is unable to immediately accept surrenders, workers and volunteers can provide other resources, such as a connecting people with a PAWS Chicago team that can help with vaccinations and fixing animals. Sick and injured animals are also prioritized, Tejeda said.

But some local shelters are also struggling to keep up with the local cat population.

Chicago’s other open-admission shelter, the Anti-Cruelty Society, was closed to intake June 8-21 due to “overwhelming intake levels lately,” said Emily Klehm, vice president of Operations.

“We had an outbreak of upper respiratory infections. In order to treat and quarantine our sick pets, we had to close to intake,” Klehm wrote in an email. “We are back to normal hours.”

The Anti-Cruelty Society’s capacity is about 200 cats, and it currently has 234 cats in the building. There are also 175 cats in foster care. The shelter took in 172 cats during the entire month of January — but it’s nearly on track to take in that many cats in one week in June, Klehm said.

Chicagoans can help relieve some of the burden shelters are experiencing by considering fostering or adopting, Klehm said.

People are also encouraged “to reach out before surrendering their animal to take advantage of our many resources,” she said. “We offer pet food, supplies, behavior support, veterinary care and more to help people keep their pets and prevent surrender. Anti-Cruelty is just one organization across Chicagoland offering support, and there are many resources out there.”

PAWS Chicago, a no-kill Chicago shelter, believes prevention is key, Chief Program Officer Celene Mielcarek said. To try to curb the seasonal surge of kittens, PAWS hosted a Feral Cat Spay Day in May, performing over 200 spay and neuter surgeries on outdoor cats.

“This was designed to help reduce pet overpopulation and really protect Chicago’s cat community,” Mielcarek said. “Prevention is the most important work that we can do in animal welfare.”

PAWS will also expand its on-site presence at Animal Control from six days a week to seven days a week starting July 12. PAWS will also be offering its low cost spay and neuter surgeries six days a week starting in July.

More Resources Needed

The number cats and dogs taken in by Animal Control has climbed annually, from 13,419 in 2023 to 18,337 in 2025. The cat adoption rate has also slightly increased over that time, from about 24 percent in 2023 to over 26 percent in 2025, Block Club previously reported.

Last year, 3,627 cats and dogs were adopted from Animal Control and 8,847 were transferred to rescue organizations, the highest transfer total the agency has had in the past decade, Tejeda said earlier this year.

Julie Darling, a Chicago advocate who volunteers with shelters and foster dogs, pushed for City Council to adopt a resolution last year to help bolster the city’s animal care services.

“I’ve been there when the shelter is busting at the seams,” Darling said. The resolution “that I was working on, it did get a lot of attention. But now I feel like we’re back to almost where we started, where the shelter is not getting the attention it deserves.”

The struggle extends to dogs, too, Darling said.

“There’s only 250 cages for dogs,” Darling said. “When people are turning in dogs anywhere from 25 to 50 a day, the math just doesn’t math anymore.”

Darling believes Animal Control is doing what it can to help animals, but she said it needs more support.

“It’s an all-hands-on-deck situation,” she said. “I understand that times are tough, but … when all of these surrenders are happening, when people are not … trying to spay and neuter in general or help the feral colonies, the problem just continues to get worse and worse and worse. And being a municipal shelter, they can only do so much, and I’ve seen it firsthand.”

Resources

Low Cost Spay or Neuter Clinics

Free Pet Food Pantries

Feral Cat Support

Chicago Area Rescues and Shelters