SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — At the Springdale Animal Shelter, more than 70 dogs and upwards of 50 cats are waiting to be adopted.

“We are all drowning in adorable, adoptable animals,” said Courtney Kremer, the Director of Animal Services for the City of Springdale.

While she expects most of the current shelter cats and kittens will end up adopted, she said it’s a different story for the dogs that need a home.

“With dogs, it’s just kind of always a never-ending cycle. Some weeks we have a lot of intakes and hardly any adoptions,” Kremer said.

Right now, it’s mostly medium and large-sized dogs that’re taking up space at the shelter.

With not much available room to house the animals, the Springdale Animal Shelter has joined NBCUniversal Local’s Clear the Shelters campaign.

“We’ve just been really at capacity for weeks and weeks and weeks, and we’re just trying to hopefully catch a break here soon,” she said.

The nationwide pet adoption and donation event runs through August 31, 2023. The goal is to find loving homes for animals in need and, as the name implies, clear out space in local shelters.

“We’re just hoping that we have a lot of really great families come by and look at some of our amazing animals that have just been hanging out, waiting on the right person to come in.”

Since 2015, more than 860,000 pets have found homes through the Clear the Shelters campaign.

For anyone wanting to adopt, Kremer described the process as simple and easy. She said permission from a landlord is required for renters. Anyone else just needs to fill out an application and make sure any pets they already have are up to date on their vaccinations.

Any pet that is adopted will be spayed or neutered, microchipped and have the required vaccinations based on their age.

As the shelter waits for more families to adopt, staff are spread thin dealing with the influx in animals.

“[There are] not enough hands to go around for the amount of animals that we have right now,” Kremer said.

That why volunteers, Kremer said, are so important.

“Any extra attention that the animals can get is super helpful… playing with cats… coming up, taking the dog for a walk makes that day a whole lot better for the dog,” she said.

“It’s super rewarding. I’ve been doing it for seven years now,” said Ally Haram.

Haram is the volunteer coordinator for the City of Springdale. She trains other volunteers to help out with whatever is needed around the shelter.

“Helping socialize the animals, maybe giving them a bath and helping with laundry occasionally, but really just walking them and making sure they get some activity,” she said.

This socialization, according to Haram, helps the animals get adopted faster. “If they can get along with other animals easier, then it’s obviously better for them to get adopted because they have been around other animals.”

Those interested in volunteering need to fill out an application and go through an hour-long orientation.

For anyone not ready to welcome a pet into their home permanently, fostering is also an option. Kittens who need to be bottle fed typically stay with foster families. An application and short orientation are also required to foster.

According to Kremer, just a short orientation is required for someone to become a foster. “We can’t do it on our own so we’re glad to have community support for sure.”

When asked what she’d say to a family ready to adopt, Kremer said, “we have dogs and cats for every different walk of life. It really just depends on what you’re looking for.”

Check out adoptable pets at the Springdale Animal Shelter by clicking here.