Across Maine, animal shelters are reaching their breaking point. Dogs, cats, and other pets are being surrendered in heartbreaking numbers—not because their families don’t love them, but because they simply can’t afford to keep them. Rising costs of rent, food, and vet care driven by inflation are forcing good people to make impossible choices. Our shelters are doing all they can—but they’re overwhelmed, understaffed, and out of space.

This is a crisis we can’t ignore.

Maine’s shelter workers and volunteers are sounding the alarm. Facilities across the state are full, and there’s no slowdown in sight. Animals are being turned away, waitlisted, or packed into crowded spaces. Some have been waiting for homes for months. And the people who bring them in? Many are heartbroken seniors, struggling families, or renters facing eviction—people who never imagined having to give up their pet.

We need the state of Maine to step up with emergency funding and a coordinated response. That means direct support for shelters to expand their capacity and services, resources for low-income families to keep their pets, and statewide collaboration to manage intake and adoption efforts.

No pet should be left in crisis. No family should be forced to surrender a beloved companion because they’ve fallen on hard times. And no shelter should be left to carry this burden alone.

If you believe Maine’s animals—and the people who care for them—deserve better, please sign and share this petition. Let’s show our state leaders that this is not just about animals; it’s about compassion, community, and stepping up when it counts most.

Sign now to demand emergency funding and action for Maine’s overwhelmed shelters.