It's important to understand that not only animals but their rescuers are facing tough times as well. Earlier this month, National Geographic ran an article called 'Why animal shelters are facing a new crisis'. Among many things, it said that "many shelters helping dogs, cats, rabbits, and other pets in need have been hurt by staffing shortages—resulting in reduced operations." To find out more about it, we reached out to Animal Humane Society (AHS), an organization that provides direct care and services to help nearly 100,000 animals in need across Minnesota.

"Staffing shortages have been a challenge for [us] as well," Sarah Bhimani, Internal Communications and Content Producer at Animal Humane Society, told Bored Panda. "We're still able to provide care and services for animals and our community; our staffing challenges have placed additional stress on our existing teams."

To account for fewer staff, Bhimani said they've "had to decrease the number of veterinary appointments and surrender appointments we can offer the community each day, and we've had to decrease the number of animals we're transporting from partners in other parts of the country to our shelters in Minnesota. We're prioritizing the needs of local animals first. Right now, the current wait time for non-emergency surrender appointments may be as long as eight weeks."

Human resources aside, shelters and other animal protection organizations are experiencing other problems, too. "Another issue is the lack of low-cost vet care options for our communities. Animal Humane Society vet centers are currently booking out three to four weeks in advance and when released, available appointments are booked within minutes."

As you probably already understood, animal sheltering isn't an individual task — it's a network. And the better the community runs, the more they can do together.

"Another issue is a lack of foster families willing to take large dogs," Bhimani added. "At AHS, we have lots of families who regularly foster cats, small dogs, and critters (rabbits, guinea pigs, etc), but it's a lot harder to find people who are able to open their homes to a large dog foster that's recovering from surgery, requires medication, etc."

Remember that you don't have to adopt a pet to help the cause. "Help your local animal shelter promote their open positions, whether that's by sharing employment opportunities with your friends and family, or using your social media to amplify posts from your local shelter," Bhimani encouraged everyone who want to contribute.

"Animal shelters are also always in need of donations, whether they're financial or in supplies. If you have a pet, be sure to plan ahead for preventative vet care and schedule your appointment months in advance. And always be kind to veterinary and animal shelter staff — their work is physically and emotionally difficult! Being patient and saying thank you goes a long way."