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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
SE Smith

America’s animal shelters are overwhelmed. Pets – and staff – are at breaking point

Sierra Sophie Animal Cruelty
grid of animals - the top, from left to right, shows a brown dog with black face, black cat, and another brown dog with black face; the bottom shows a tabby cat, a gray and white dog with big pointy ears, and another tabby cat
Animals waiting for adoption at the Mendocino Coast Humane Society. Top, left to right: Annie and Dolly Purrton, Sophie. Bottom: Freddie, Roo and Asia. Composite: Cassandra Young Photography/Courtesy Mendocino Coast Humane Society

Monday mornings at the Mendocino Coast Humane Society, the northern California animal shelter where I work part-time, are chaotic.

The frenzied beeping of anesthesia monitoring equipment echoes as I dodge Coco, one of the resident shelter cats with a penchant for ankles, and tiptoe down a freshly mopped hallway with a bleachy smell that makes my eyes water.

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