The Port Macquarie Animal Shelter kennels have reached capacity.
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The shelter has seen an increase in stray dogs that have not been reclaimed, surrenders and dogs awaiting adoption.
Because of the high number of dogs currently being held at the facility, they are unable to take on any more surrenders.
"We've had to call on the public not to surrender their dogs. We will continue to add people's names to the waiting list, which is sitting at 60 people at the moment," Port Macquarie Animal Shelter acting team leader Karissa Wood said.
"We only have 16 kennels and we need the space for dogs that rangers pick up and we don't have that at the moment.
"We do mark some of the animals on the surrender list as priority when we need to, but we're asking people to reach out to people they know to see if they can assist with holding the animal until we can bring it into the shelter."
Ms Wood said the current housing crisis and owners no longer having time for their pets after returning to work is leading to more animals being surrendered.
"We are seeing a lot of unwanted litters and they're the ones that are being dumped out in bushland," she said.
"We have also had a few older dogs at the shelter that have been dumped. We recently had two bulldogs that were 12 months old and were dumped out at Telegraph Point."
To help assist with the high number of animals being brought into the shelter, Ms Wood has been reaching out to rescue organisations each week, however most rescue groups across the state are also at capacity.
"They have been helping us where they can, but we're still finding a lot of animals needing to be impounded."
Many dogs being picked up by rangers and members of the public are not microchipped.
"This means they need to do their legal eight day impound time before we can get them vet checked and put them up for adoption."
The shelter is encouraging people to be responsible pet owners.
"We're encouraging everyone to get their animals microchipped and make sure their details are up to date," Ms Wood said.
"We also encourage people to be responsible pet owners and to think before they buy."
Six dogs are currently available for adoption at the shelter, with a further four becoming available once they're desexed.
The shelter is also accepting blankets, towels and food donations for animals that are impounded.
To view all of the animals available for adoption, visit the Port Macquarie Animal Shelter Facebook page.
If you believe an animal has been dumped or abandoned please call the council rangers on 6583 3488 or the RSPCA cruelty hotline on 1300 278 3589.
