The Pima Animal Care Center is asking the public for immediate help after reaching an urgent census level, shelter officials said Thursday, with 593 dogs currently in its care at the Silverbell location.

The unusually high intake has forced staff to set up temporary pop-up kennels and place two or more dogs in single kennels a practice the shelter says creates safety concerns for staff, volunteers and the animals themselves.

Simply put, we are out of room, PACC Director Steve Kozachik said. Virtually every kennel at PACC is currently housing two dogs. That is a safety issue for our staff and volunteers, and it is not fair to the animals.

PACC said roughly 70% of its annual intake are stray dogs that likely have homes nearby. Many are housetrained, friendly and sometimes microchipped wit

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