Adoptable (Official) Georgia Dogs for August 19, 2025

The Hawkinsville-Pulaski County Animal Control Shelter needs adopters and rescuers to help prevent them from having to euthanize dogs for space, according to 13WMAZ.

The Hawkinsville-Pulaski County Animal Control Shelter is facing a severe overcrowding crisis, housing 16 dogs in a facility designed for just 11, forcing staff to confront difficult decisions about the future of animal welfare in the community.

Chandra Toledo, who has managed the shelter for eight years, says the situation has reached a critical point as calls for help continue to pour in faster than space becomes available.

The shelter, which typically maintains capacity for 11 dogs, is now struggling to accommodate the influx of animals needing care. Toledo reports receiving more emergency calls than the facility can handle.

“More calls than we have kennels. We have 16 dogs with 11 kennels. We have a whole list of calls for today to go about dogs that need help,” she said.

Throughout her tenure, Toledo has maintained the shelter as a no-kill facility, never euthanizing animals to create space. However, the current crisis is forcing her to reconsider that approach.

“I didn’t sign up to work at a kill facility. But what do you do? Like, even this morning when the sheriff’s calling that they have two dogs and those dogs are in need and they obviously can’t stay at the jail 100% but then what do you do? There’s no more room,”` Toledo said.

The overcrowding problem extends beyond the Hawkinsville facility. Cassie Marchman, an employee at Georgia Canine Rescue and Rehabilitation that typically accepts overflow animals from the shelter, says every facility in the area is facing similar capacity issues.

”We’re just so full everybody’s full, at max capacity. I mean if you call anybody, anybody says the same thing that there’s stuffed to the brim. And unfortunately it’s just a lot of animals would nowhere to go,” Marchman said.