How geography plays a role in overwhelmed animal shelters

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (InvestigateTV) — Many animal shelters across America are overwhelmed, and where animals are located is a big reason why.

In regions like the South, shelters are under-resourced and over-capacity, packed with dogs and cats waiting for adoption. For many, that wait can be fatal. In 2024, U.S. shelters euthanized more than 600,000 animals.

Experts say homes often exist for these animals, but the animals are in the wrong place.

It’s a geographic mismatch the ASPCA and other groups are working to fix by moving pets hundreds of miles by land and air.

A new addition at home

Inside Johnny Hunter’s home, it’s clear he has a hobby. Over the years, he’s put together more than 100 Lego sets, with his apartment packed wall to wall.

Now he’s making room for someone new.

In early 2025, Hunter adopted a dog named Abby from Wayside Waifs in his hometown of Kansas City.

“It’s been awesome. I mean, she’s really changed my life,” Hunter said. “She’s kind of like a celebrity in my life.”

Abby, a 3-year-old pit bull mix, likely never would have become Hunter’s pet because she’s not from Missouri.

Abby ended up in Kansas City from Arkansas. The ASPCA brought her as part of a program that moves pets to places with more space and more adopters.

Hunter believes that relocating Abby “probably did” save her life.

How the program works

Casey Waugh has worked at Wayside Waifs for more than a decade and knows Abby’s story well.

“Her life completely changed because of this program and because of Wayside Waifs,” Waugh said.

Wayside Waifs has been part of the ASPCA’s national relocation network since 2010.

“We knew that there were homeless animals outside of Kansas City. We could reach our arms a little bit further and help those animals,” Waugh said.

Wayside Waifs is a destination shelter, meaning animals are transported from other shelters that may not have the resources to care for them.

In 2025, it took in about 850 animals through the program.

“Unfortunately, a lot of these animals wouldn’t make it,” Waugh.

While shelter euthanasia rates have declined over the last decade, shelters in many communities still take in more adoptable dogs and cats than they can place locally.

“There are often animals at source shelters that are at the end of opportunities that people have utilized all of the foster homes they can possibly utilize in their community,” said Karen Walsh, the ASPCA’s senior director of relocation.

Walsh said the relocation program has been operating since 2014 and partners with more than 140 shelters nationally.

She said shelters around the country are dealing with overpopulation, especially in the South and Midwest. Weather in those regions is more conducive to longer breeding seasons, and robust spay and neuter programs are less readily available.

“Our country is really out of balance in that area,” Walsh said.

Restoring that balance is a massive logistical challenge, according to Walsh.

It starts with more than 20 vehicles on the road seven days a week, along with locations across the country where animals can stay overnight during longer trips. Vehicles never travel more than 650 miles without stopping.

“We want to make sure that the drivers are safe and that the animals are safe,” Walsh said.

The program also relocates animals by plane. Flights take off weekly, sometimes carrying as many as 100 pets.

“I’ve never been on a runway where a flight was taking off where everybody wasn’t crying,” Walsh said.

Over the last decade, more than 300,000 animals have been moved through the program.

“This program absolutely saves lives,” Walsh said.

Health and safety standards

To ensure the health of the animals and prevent the spread of disease, Walsh said the ASPCA requires source and destination shelters to meet guidelines established by the Association of Shelter Veterinarians and the American Veterinary Medical Association.

“You always have to take the pet’s health and well-being in concern, no matter what you do,” said Dr. Michael Bailey, former president of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

The organization does not oversee relocation programs, but he said he believes the ASPCA is trying to carry out the work responsibly, and the details matter.

“Regular stops, making sure that they have time to exercise, that they have time to relieve themselves so that they do not get stressed in the movement so they do not become overheated,” Bailey said.

Bailey cautioned that moving animals can come with risks.

“The stress can lower their immune system. So, they are susceptible to new diseases,” Bailey said. “It also means that they can get hurt in the transport process themselves.”

He said veterinarian-issued health certificates can help confirm whether animals are healthy enough to travel, and many states require them across state lines. Beyond that, he said oversight varies widely.

Walsh has seen issues with some transfers conducted outside of the ASPCA’s program.

“We see some people driving from Texas to Canada and things like that, not being able to stop. Just switching over, switching over,” she said. “That’s so dangerous that we really try to encourage people not to do that.”

Walsh said the organization also educates on safe relocation and advocates for broader changes that address the root cause of shelter overpopulation.

“It’s just the beginning of a safety net program that allows the pop-off valve to open and the animals to leave so that people can be like, okay, now what are we doing this week to make a change?” Walsh said.

She stressed the importance of programs that prioritize low-cost spay and neuter practices, community engagement, and progressive adoption and foster services.

A new chapter

Since adopting Abby, Hunter has started volunteering at Wayside Waifs. “The more dogs we could save, the better.”

Hunter said he’ll always have a passion for building worlds, brick by brick, and now, one animal at a time.

“She really is my best friend. She’s just made every aspect of my life better,” Hunter said.

States are slowly adopting stricter regulations for animal shelters and rescue transfers.

In December 2025, New York began enforcing a law that requires licensing, health evaluations and transport safety standards for animal relocations into the state. Similar oversight exists in states including Oregon and Massachusetts.

The ASPCA said this relocation pipeline works because willing adopters are waiting at the other end.