FARMINGTON — Overcrowding at the Franklin County Animal Shelter is forcing the shelter to change its policy around surrendered dogs.

At this time, the shelter has no room for dogs that already belong to people who have decided they can no longer care for them, or don’t want them anymore for one reason or another, Peri Starr, social media and fundraising contact for the shelter, wrote in an email.

The shelter is contractually and legally bound to take strays brought to the shelter by an animal control officer.

“There are many ways animals come to us, and with dogs, it is usually one of two: as a stray/abandoned animal through Animal Control, or surrendered directly from the previous owner,” Starr wrote. “Sometimes, someone will find a stray dog and bring it directly to us, instead of contacting Animal Control, and this is treated the same as if the (animal control officer) was involved.

“This is one of the reasons we have so many abandoned animals, because people decide that, rather than go through the proper process that is the best for the animal, they will release them to fend for themselves, roaming the woods or streets, until an ACO or good Samaritan picks them up,” she wrote.

The amount of phone calls the shelter gets in just one day from people who want to surrender their animals is astounding, she said.

“We are also not an isolated case in this issue — it is at epidemic proportions,” Starr wrote.

Most shelters they are in touch with are dealing with the same situation.

“We are actually in the process of expanding our facility to accommodate the amount of animals we are presented with, and fundraising is a slow and steady process in our community,” Starr wrote. “Once we have room, there is a list almost a year old of people waiting to surrender their animals.”