LET'S KEEP THIS MOMENTUM! 600+ SIGNATURES ALL BEACAUSE OF YOUR SUPPORT! 🎉 

THANK YOU for taking the time to advocate for the wellbeing of NC’s animals. Every single signature, comment, video, and donation, is meaningful and could be the reason that lives are saved.  

Together, we’re not just hoping for change—we’re making it happen.

📝 Petition Update: With the rapidly worsening situation across North Carolina’s animal shelters, we are updating our petition to also reflect their urgent needs.

Why This Matters Right Now

SB 573 is critical for long-term change—but animals are dying today due to overcrowding.

Across North Carolina, most if not ALL shelters are operating at or beyond capacity—many for months at a time. In cities like Charlotte, large-scale intake cases, including recent hoarding cases, have pushed facilities into crisis conditions. (News Article)

 As a result, shelters are being forced to make devastating decisions, including increased euthanasia due to lack of space—not lack of adoptability.

Without immediate intervention, shelters will continue to operate in crisis mode, and preventable euthanasia will rise. We cannot wait for reform alone. We need emergency action now.

This is no longer just a policy issue. It is an active, statewide emergency.

📰 Here’s what Charlotte AC Reps are saying in the media: 

They’re calling it a “dire situation.”

They say 114 dogs have come into the shelter in the last 10 days. That’s almost two dozen more than what they would typically see in that time period.

These high numbers are alarming because they haven’t even gotten into their busy season yet.

“Typically, animal shelters across the country are much bigger in the summer, and we’re already starting to feel that push a little bit, and we haven’t even really gotten into kitten season yet,” Char-Meck Animal Care & Control’s Melissa Knicely said. “Right now, we’re focusing on the dog numbers. That’s where we’re really low in kennels and what we would call a red alert.”

As of Tuesday night, there are only 10 open kennels in total for both locations.

“If we’re in a red category that means that we don’t have many dog kennels available. Then we have yellow and green like a stop light,” said Melissa Knicely, Communications and Outreach Manager for the shelter.

 “Since we implemented this about a month and a half ago, we’ve not had a green kennel day for dogs."

🚨What We Are Now Urgently Calling For (In Addition to SB 573)🚨

We are asking North Carolina officials and legislators to:

• Declare a Statewide Animal Shelter Crisis Emergency
• Implement a Temporary Halt or Restriction on Breeding and Retail Pet Sales
• Mandate Emergency Support for Overcapacity Shelters, including:
  - State-funded transport programs
  - Rapid foster and adoption mobilization
  - Resource allocation to the most impacted counties
• Increase Transparency and Reporting Requirements during the crisis period

What You Can Do

• Continue sharing and signing this petition
• Contact your local and state representatives
• Support your local shelters through fostering, adopting, or volunteering

Thank you so much for your donations of over $300 to increase our petition signatures!

❗ PLEASE NOTE: These donations go to Change.org – not to us. 

*If you’d like to donate directly to NCAP, please do so at: 

www.gofundme.com/NCanimalprotection

Together, we are pushing for both urgent relief and lasting change.

— NCAP