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It's kitten season and animal shelters are overwhelmed

Kitten season might sound cute, but it puts a lot of stress on workers at animal shelters.

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. — It's that time of the year when cats are breeding kittens, causing animal shelters everywhere to get hit hard with an influx of kittens, including Hillside SPCA near Pottsville.

"It's the time of the year for that, and unfortunately, the kittens that come in, not all of them are in great condition. People leave them in boxes on the side of the road, they find them underneath their porches, in truck beds," Tricia Moyer-Mentzer said.

Officials at the shelter say kitten season generally starts in the spring and goes until the end of summer. Right now, Hillside has more than 200 cats, including more than 60 kittens at the facility in North Manheim Township. Some aren't in great shape and require extra care. That's on top of all of the dogs that employees and volunteers have to care for as well.

"It's a very, very hard time of the year. It affects the whole cat building because when the cat numbers go up, the kitten numbers go up. It's just hard on everybody because the cleaning is a lot more intense, because a lot more animals are coming in, and the sickness, unfortunately, goes up this time of the year, too," Moyer-Mentzer said.

As for a way to help ease the stress on animal shelters everywhere? Hillside urges everybody to spay and neuter their animals if they're able to.

Get more information on adoption at the Hillside SPCA website.

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