Pender County Animal Shelter asks community to adopt, foster ahead of temporary closure

PENDER COUNTY, N.C. (WWAY) — The Pender County Animal Shelter is asking for the community’s help as it prepares for a temporary closure later this month for state-mandated repairs.

The shelter will close at 5 p.m. on May 20 and is tentatively set to reopen June 3. During that time, no animals or staff can be on-site, meaning all shelter operations will stop, including intakes beginning at 4 p.m. on May 17.

Shelter staff say they have spent weeks working with local rescue organizations to move animals out ahead of the closure, but officials say community support is still urgently needed.

Manager Jewell Horton encouraged people to consider adopting, fostering or sponsoring animals, while also warning against impulse decisions.

“Straightforward adoptions to the public, or if they want to foster, they can reach out to any of our rescue partners like NC Seaside, Adopt an Angel, and see about fostering through them,” Horton said. “We understand not everybody can add a pet to their home right now and we respect that. Don’t impulse adopt because of what’s going on but share the post, sponsor animals, and help the rescues.”

The shelter is also encouraging residents to avoid surrendering pets unless it is a life-or-death situation because of limited shelter space and mutual aid resources in the area.

Officials also reminded residents who find stray animals to first check local community pages, saying many stray pets are often not far from home.

For more information on how to help, visit the shelter’s Facebook page, or their website.