SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU)– The Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue Center (SCAARC) is reporting an influx of animals being dropped off, at the facility and on the streets.

SCAARC is nearing capacity, with 53 dogs out of a 69 dog limit.

“Right now we’re seeing anywhere from 5 to 10 animals per day,” said Jessica Johnson, with Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue Center.

“It’s very very busy, it’s very difficult because we have to have added staff to take care of all these animals,” said Cindy Rarrat, owner and operator of SCAARC.

Rarrat said they receive these animals in one of two ways.

“We have the people that will bring them to the shelters that find them as strays and then we have people that drive along a road way, turn the dog out, and then they drive off and leave them,” Rarrat said.

Rarrat told me about an unfortunate case of a dumped dog they recently dealt with.

“On the 5300-block of Highway 75 North, this was a dog was left in a dirt area along a roadway that was deceased. It is like a female black and white great Dane, American bulldog mix,” said Rarrat.

Rarrat wants to remind Siouxlanders it’s illegal to dump animals on the side of the road.

“It could be abandonment of an animal, cruelty or neglect of an animal, it could possibly be disposal of an animal. You can’t just take your animal out and just dump it alongside a roadway,” said Rarrat.

“Usually the initial ticket for the first time is a $195 with court cost, it can go from $100 to $1,000,” said Johnson.

If you’d like to help relieve Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue of some of their lost pets, you can either adopt an animal or foster as well.

If you have any information about the dog described above, please contact the Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue Center at 712-279-6968.