CHARLOTTE, N.C. — CMPD Animal Care and Control has struggled with overcrowding for years, and a new plan is giving staff members and volunteers some hope.
The city is working to turn a property on South Tryon Street into a future adoption center, which seeks solutions to Charlotte's growing animal population.
CMPD Animal Care and Control's current shelter and medical facility on Byrum Drive is always full.
"More people equals more animals," Joshua Fisher, the director of Animal Care and Control, said. "The city of Charlotte continues to grow, we need more space to support our community."
Fisher said the agency is caring for about 950 animals right now.
"Only about a third of those are physically in the shelter and candidly, that's because that's what we can fit," Fisher added.
The rest of the animals are in the foster program. For years, volunteers have begged city leaders to make more space for them.
"We have had to make euthanasia for space decisions this year, which is not something we had had to do since 2019," Fisher said.
A seven-acre property on South Tryon Street next to the Jeff Adams Tennis Center may give them some wiggle room.
"This is a step, this is not the end," Fisher said. "The population challenges that we’re facing within Animal Care and Control for the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County aren’t going to immediately be fixed."
Overcrowding will continue to be a problem, but the new adoption center will have 120 kennels. That will add to the current location, which has about 390 kennels.
The property was a junk yard and service station decades ago, but city project manager Bruce Miller said during a public hearing for the property's rezoning petition that it’s safe.
"We did our studies well and we did not come up with any potential chemicals that would be harmful," Miller said. "There has been some methane gas leaks within the Renaissance Park area, but this particular property did not have any evidence of methane gas."
Fisher said the goal is to break ground in fall 2025 and open by the end of 2026.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.