PSPCA team with ACCT to help four-legged friends

JUNIATA PARK (WPVI) -- A big effort is under way to help dozens of dogs in Philadelphia.

While the Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia is undergoing a major makeover, another organization is lending a helping hand to help give their four-legged friends a place to stay.

Some of the dogs are just days away from finally being adopted into a forever home.

For others though, these could simply be the last days or weeks of their lives.

"Euthanasia is one of the things that we want to avoid because it still happens in our shelter, we euthanize probably about 5,000 animals a year," Vincent Medley of ACCT said.

The ACCT is the region's largest facility of its kind, taking in about 26,000 animals a year.

But it is currently undergoing an HVAC renovation project that will cut its capacity from 100 to 50 dogs.

"Half of our kennels are not being used because of the construction," Medley said.

This is where the Pennsylvania SPCA comes in.

"The hope is that instead of having animals come in and take up kennel space that's valuable right now at ACCT, we can get them right to the kennels that are open right at the Pennsylvania SPCA," Kelsie Kelly of the PSPCA said.

The PSPCA has been diverting some of the dog owners who have come here to surrender their pets.

"As long as we have the space, we do everything we can to try and help out animals here," Kelly said.

PSCPA volunteers will show up at ACCT in Juniata Park three days a week for several weeks to help alleviate some of the burden for ACCT and ultimately save some dogs from being euthanized.

Though the partnership between ACCT and PSPCA is new, the goal to minimize the use of euthanasia and the need for the public's help isn't.

Adoption is ideal, but even foster care would make a difference for these shelters and even more so for these animals.

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