Renovations To Durham Animal Shelter Create Short-Term Problems For Dogs

"In order to do renovations on the old area, we have to move the dogs out. They can't do construction with dogs in the runs, so we'll have half as much space to house the dogs," said Julia Wing, of the Animal Protection Society.

Officials need to find homes for 50 dogs and they need to do it quickly -- a tall order when you consider only 600 of the 6,000 animals they take in every year end up being adopted.

"It's absolutely gut-wrenching. The last thing you want to do is put to sleep adoptable animals," Wing said.

"It's heartbreaking. I'm an animal lover. I've got two dogs and two cats," animal lover Terri Ragan said. "This is sad. They're just helpless."

Ragan has already adopted one pet from the shelter and is now thinking about taking part in the foster program.

"I would consider taking one in for a foster home for a couple of weeks, just to give them a chance," she said.

The shelter is hoping to find permanent homes for these dogs, but they also have a foster program. People can take in a dog on a temporary basis. In this case, it would likely be two months -- December and January.

To find out more about the urgent need and how you can help, visit the

Durham APS online

or call (919) 560-0640.