The Winnipeg Humane Society is temporarily closing its animal intake doors after many are coming in and few are going out.

"We realized Saturday night that we were approaching a thin line of being at full capacity, so we closed our intake department," says Jessica Miller, the CEO of the Winnipeg Humane Society.

This only excludes emergency situations, in which the organization will still take in sick and injured animals. 

"To describe it best I would say it's the perfect storm of different things happening all at the same time. We took in 33 animals last week from the wildfires up North. Also, every year we deal with what we call kitten season," she says. 

In the summertime, cats that haven't been spayed or neutered have litters that then need to be cared for. The Humane Society has an influx of kittens at this time. 

"Lastly, a lot of people have been struggling through COVID-19 with different economic factors. So we've seen surrenders from people losing their jobs. All of these things combined are just keeping us really full."

Miller says these are the dog days of summer with many dogs in need of care. 

"August has been slower for adoptions because people are on vacation, it's hot and they're at the lake. We're just not seeing the cyclical effect that we like to see with intake and then out through adoption right now."

There are three ways people can help the Humane Society in this time, and adoption is just one way. Miller says donations or fostering a pet goes a long way in overcoming the issue of a building full of animals in need. 

"If you've been thinking about adopting an animal for a long time, it's a great time because we have a ton of animals. From young to old, small to big, cats and dogs and we even have 11 rabbits," she says.

The organization also has boots on the ground in Northern Manitoba, helping with the wildfires and the animals still there. 

"We are sending up food and supplies up North, so they're looking for pails, and large amounts of dog food and wet cat food."