MACON, Bibb County — Paws outnumber the patrol in charge of controlling animals in Macon-Bibb.
13WMAZ reported that neighborhoods around Central Georgia are dealing with packs of stray and wild dogs.
After checking out what a South Macon neighborhood is dealing with, we learned animal control is in a crisis.
"It's physically impossible, and you can't go pick up every animal on the street," manager Sonja Adams said.
Animal Control Officers (ACO) said the problem is not exclusive to Macon-Bibb but nationwide.
"We can hold roughly 80 dogs and 40 cats, and we average about 1,500 a month," Adams said.
Despite getting all the calls people make to Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Animal Services, Adams said the agency doesn't have enough hands on deck or vacant cages at shelters to keep up with the growing problem.
"We're working animal crimes, police assists, public safety, stray animals—you name it, we're doing it," Adams explained.
With a full staff of just seven people, with five officers including two newly hired officers, Adams explained every day requires a different demand.
"It's going to make me cry because it's a struggle every day," Adams said.
She said she's worked with animals for the last decade and worked at the Fulton Mill Road shelter since it opened up in 2015.
"I want to help everybody; I want to help all the animals," Adams said. "But, you have to take the totality of each situation and say, if I've got two cages, which one can make the biggest impact for the person or the animal."
According to Adams, there are two cages placed around Macon-Bibb meant to trap stray and wild dogs.
However, though they're placed in spots people make concerned calls from, Adams explained AOCs have to relocate the cages if they're still empty by the time they expect to catch a dog.
They decide where to place a trap based on the severity of a call.
For example, Adams explained, a call about a person being attacked by animals takes precedence and priority over calls about other animals being attacked by strays or wild dogs roaming around without physically harming anyone.
"If you care about your pets and you know there's a pack of dogs in your area, take your pets inside so they aren't hurt," Adams said.
Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Animal Services said they receive 30 to 60 calls daily. On Wednesday, Adams said they still had 80 voicemails they hadn't responded to.
However, she assures that each voicemail's concern is logged and categorized. Animal control didn't grant 13WMAZ permission to film how many calls were logged. However, we could see there were hundreds made over the past year.
"Even if you had 10 more shelters and were able to fully staff each shelter, you're just not going to be able to solve the problem, you're not," Adams reiterated.
The animal control manager said she knows all about the roving packs most people call about.
There's a pack that originally started on Rocky Creek Road that's migrated over to St. Andrews and is now on Westside and Wesleyan, a pack of dogs over by Mathis and Lyons Street, and another in the North Highlands, according to Adams.
Even if they know where the dogs are, she explained, they can't bring every single one in because they need a cage to rehabilitate in, and there are no vacancies at the shelter.
"Every cage is full," Adams said.
South Macon neighbors told 13WMAZ they called animal control for several months about dangerous packs of dogs.
Adams said, "When we come back from the field, we try to call back as many people as possible."
However, she added, sometimes the people they call back don't pick up unknown numbers or their voicemail box is full.
"I will honestly say the past couple of days have been pretty bad for us, we've been out in the field all day Monday, all day Tuesday," Adams said.
In addition to catching strays, Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Animal Services respond to cruelty calls, abandoned animals, hoarding cases and dozens of other issues.
Yet, without a vacant cage at the shelter, they can't take in every animal on the street.
That's why she thinks it's a community issue.
"It's like a conveyor belt; we gotta keep the belt moving because, right now, we're bottlenecked," Adams said.
Open to any solutions from the public, Adams said it would help if more people gave these dogs homes.
"Adopt, foster, rescue-- anything-- because, ultimately, the end of that, if it doesn't happen, is euthanasia," Adams said.
The shelter encourages anyone who wants to take care of dogs to come by the shelter as soon as they can, whether they can volunteer to keep the dogs social and friendly for adoption or adopt any they are able to.
If you live in Macon-Bibb and have concerns about animals in your area, you can reach out to animal control at (478) 621-6774. Adams said you can reach out to 911 for an animal emergency. She also added you can text her directly if you think your issue needs immediate attention at 478-951-3347.