Duplin animal shelter overwhelmed by responses to help condemned dogs, cats

The condemned dogs at the Kenansville animal shelter have received a reprieve -- at least temporarily -- after the Duplin County Animal Services said they would be forced to euthanize several animals in its custody if they were not adopted by Tuesday.

The shelter posted an update on its Facebook page Tuesday afternoon, saying the shelter had received an "amazing response" from people wanting to help.

"We are trying to respond to everyone's emails, messages and phone calls," the shelter said. "Please be patient and know that all dogs and cats will have at least one more day! Yesterday, the skies seemed so dark but today the sun is shining!!"

According to the shelter, more than 10 dogs were expected to be euthanized if no interest was shown in them.

The agency posted a heartfelt message on Monday on its Facebook page, saying the situation was dire.

"This is with a very heavy heart...almost every dog in this shelter will be out of time tomorrow," the shelter posted on Facebook Monday along with "code red," "SOS" and "out of time."

The shelter posted that at least eight of the dogs are under 20 pounds and many are under 10 pounds. Most are heartworm negative.

Photos of the dogs that need to be rescued are available on Facebook.

Duplin County was hit hard by Hurricane Florence, and much of the county is still trying to recover from the catastrophic storm that raked parts of North Carolina last month.