CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Snuggles on the couch are common now for Alexis Ketover and her new foster dog Linda.
But just two weeks before, amid the latest crest in the capacity crisis at CMPD Animal Care and Control, the shelter volunteer was sitting in Linda's kennel saying goodbye.
"I just held her, and I told her how much I loved her and that she was such a good girl, that she didn't deserve any of this, and that if I could, I would save her in a second and that I loved her so much," Ketover said.
At the time, the animal shelter was overcapacity, and Linda's fate was uncertain with kennels needing to be cleared.
Ketover was living in a smaller space then and couldn't take the pup she has grown to love as a volunteer dog walker.
"I just kept repeating over and over again, what a good girl she was," Ketover said.
Fortunately, another volunteer stepped in, saving kennel space and Linda's life, giving the 3-year-old pit bull terrier a couch to crash on until more dogs could be adopted out and the shelter squeeze loosened.
"She came back from her mini-break, and I ran right to her kennel, and I called her name running through the kennel," Ketover said. "She came running right up to the kennel to see me, and I broke down in tears again, just because I was able to see her again."
Melissa Knicely, with CMPD Animal Care and Control, said the shelter is hoping to see more stories of salvation like Linda's in the coming weeks because its biggest test yet is coming.
The shelter is undergoing necessary construction, and starting in June, the next phase is coming to its kennels in the back, eliminating 50 spaces for an undetermined amount of time, in an already tight situation.
Over the last two years, Knicely said dogs have been coming in quickly, with staff having to make hard decisions much more often about who stays and lives and who does not.
Knicely said the shelter's dogs will need existing fosters, new fosters, and creative sheltering ideas now more than ever.
"50 kennels that we're going to be down for, for a while, is a lot," Knicely said. "If there are boarding facilities out there that would be willing to take some of our dogs for a month or so if they have room... If there are doggy day cares that could even take two for a couple of weeks."
Ketover hopes sharing the call for help now generates the miracle needed to save lives, as her precious foster's life was saved two weeks ago, so cuddles on the couch with Linda can happen today.
"That right there is the power of everyone telling everyone, and having everyone tell everyone," Ketover said. "That's why I didn't lose Linda that day."
People interested in learning about fostering can visit CMPD's site and fill out an application online.
Interested in learning more about adoptable Linda? Follow her journey here.