FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Animal shelters in Northwest Arkansas are at max capacity, leading some to euthanize animals.

Courtney Kremer, the Director of Animal Services in Springdale, said to qualify as a no-kill shelter, it has to have a euthanasia rate of ten percent or less, and a live release rate of more than ninety percent.

At the Springdale shelter, dogs are put down, but it’s not often, and they do everything they can to find the dogs home before it does. It has had a euthanasia rate below ten percent for the last five years.

Reasons a dog has to be put down include court orders for dangerous pups when a dog is extremely sick or injured, and now shelters are having to consider it more with how overcrowded they are.

“I mean there are times where we have to make decisions. It’s not as often as what sometimes people want to think it is, but unfortunately we are just really full too,” said Kremer.

When making decisions about putting a dog down the shelter takes many things into account, such as the advice of a veterinarian.

Also, Kremer said that a full shelter, has just pushed employees to work even harder on getting these dogs a forever home, so putting them down doesn’t have to happen.