(WHTM)– Animal shelters almost always struggle with the volume of dogs they must care for, but shelters say the problem is especially bad now and experts believe inflation is the biggest reason.

“Oh no no no. It’s, you know, Jaspar is like my kid,” Stephanie Campbell of Lititz said. Stephanie and her daughter Liv have adopted two dogs, Jasper and Sugar, from the Lancaster SPCA.

“There were definitely challenging days when I’m like wow y’know,” Stephanie said. “But here we are five years later and — total difference.”

Jaspar didn’t know how to live in a home and Sugar was one of 170 dogs rescued from one house in Monroe County. However, it doesn’t only take an extreme example like that to overwhelm shelters.

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“It feels like we have a lull in adoptions,” Kisha Reinmiller of the Lancaster SPCA said. “We’re not getting adopters that want to put the work in.” Reinmiller runs Lancaster’s SPCA, which is full and is a no-kill facility.

There are multiple reasons shelters are more packed. Some breeds are not allowed in rentals. Also, inflation, food, medicine, and other products can be too expensive for many budgets.

Another issue is, that fewer owners are coming to pick up stray dogs. The SPCA suspects it’s actually because the dogs have been abandoned — which is illegal in Pennsylvania.

“They’re already tremendously high for this year,” Reinmiller said. “Just today alone we got three stray dogs.”

On the day we visited, a dozen people called to say they’d be by to surrender their dogs.

Working in a shelter can be just plain sad.

“It’s hard,” Reinmiller said. “It’s heartbreaking to see these dogs that clearly deserve living families and at some point probably had one.”

Imagine the trauma of a dog used to living in a home suddenly being left somewhere, seeing their family drive away, and then, in shock at being here.

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“I see a lot of things,” Reinmiller said. “I see people’s loved pets. I think I see a whole lot of what I expect like I could never imagine my dog living somewhere like this. And I think that’s the hardest thing.” It is obvious how much she cares for these dogs.

In the end, shelter pets bring joy to so many Midstaters. For Stephanie and Liv, their rescues continue to get healthier and their bond continues to get stronger. “The love and happiness they bring into your house,” the mother and daughter spread that message about the satisfaction of bringing home a shelter dog.

The Lancaster SPCA is helping with two key things; There’s an animal food pantry that is stocked with donations and, they offer good advice to those struggling to train their shelter dog.

One more note, people who may not be able to adopt but volunteers who could foster and work on training a dog are very welcome right now.

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