DuPage animal shelter reached maximum capacity for 4th time this year

The DuPage County Animal Services shelter in Wheaton reached maximum capacity Friday, leading to an emergency request for help in housing 80 dogs, 119 cats, and 34 small and exotic animals.

“We’ve taken in more dogs this summer than we have in years,” Brian Krajewski, chairman of the DuPage County Animal Services Committee, said in a statement. “We’ve had several owner surrenders and admissions of dozens of dogs at once. Therefore, our shelter population has quickly ballooned.”

This is the fourth time this year the shelter has reached its capacity limit, something that used to happen once a year, Krajewski said Monday. “We get a big cloud, we get overwhelmed, but for whatever reason, we’ve been having an influx this year,” he said.

It’s a problem that will hopefully be addressed by the expansion and renovation of the county’s animal shelter at 120 N. County Farm Road in Wheaton, construction of which is to start later this month, he said.

The DuPage County Board last year authorized the Animal Services Department to move forward on the $10.9 million project. The department has more than $4 million in reserves for the project and will be using $900,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act and money raised by the DuPage Animal Friends, a nonprofit that helps collect funds for the shelter.

The agency will borrow $4.4 million to cover the rest of the construction debt. If fundraising doesn’t cover the loan amount all at once, the remainder will be paid off at $500,000-a-year increments at 0% interest under the board agreement.

Because the department doesn’t collect taxes, much of its operating revenue comes from the sales of rabies tags, officials said.

Annually, the shelter receives more than 2,000 animals, from cats and dogs to rabbits, peacocks, lizards, chameleons, tarantulas, mini horses and baby goats, officials said. Its live release rate has increased from about 50% to 89% over about the past dozen years.

“That’s pretty amazing for a municipal shelter,” Dr. Barbara Hanek, veterinarian administrator for animal services, told the County Board last May. “The problem is that our building has not kept up with the progress we are making.”

It’s too crowded for animals, staff and volunteers, Hanek said at the board meeting. It’s hard to keep animals that might not get along separated and cages are cramped, meaning the animals relieve themselves not far from what they eat and drink, she said.

Once the expansion is complete, the building will be renovated to better accommodate the department’s needs. The projected completion date is mid-2024.

Hanke said last year that DuPage County Animal Services is at the mercy of what animals are brought in, something over which they have no control.

“We are literally the safety net for unwanted or homeless animals in our community and beyond,” she said. “Animals arrive in poor condition, and it takes an incredible team and significant resources to get them healthy and happy in order to be able to get them adopted and transferred out to rescue groups.”

gwiebe@chicagotribune.com