Metro Nashville’s city-run animal shelter is officially out of room, after a run of hoarding cases stuffed its kennels to capacity. The agency has put a temporary hold on taking in new dogs while staff and partner rescues scramble to care for the animals already inside and carve out any extra space they can find.
In a Facebook post, the shelter said it pulled in 29 dogs and six puppies from the most recent hoarding situation alone, adding that "our intake areas are now at full capacity as our team works quickly to make space and care for every animal in the building." Stray cat and kitten intake is still open, but the post urges residents to report stray dogs on neighborhood platforms instead. Animal-related emergencies can still be called in to 615-862-7928, and questions can be emailed to [email protected], as reported by WSMV.
The Metro Animal Care and Control facility sits at 5125 Harding Pl, and the city’s animal-care pages outline adoption, reclaim, and stray drop-off hours, along with foster and volunteer resources. The site also explains how to search shelter listings through 24 Pet Connect and other rehoming options, according to Nashville.gov.
Shelter crowding has been an ongoing problem
This is not the first time Metro’s kennels have been jam-packed. In May 2024, MACC temporarily stopped accepting owner surrenders because there was simply no space left, as WPLN reported. City leaders have also pushed to raise the shelter’s live-release rate and grow foster and volunteer programs as part of a larger effort to hit no-kill benchmarks, according to Axios.
How to help
For Nashvillians wondering how to pitch in, the shelter’s adoptable-animal listings are the first stop, and residents can also sign up to foster or volunteer. The city’s adoption page breaks down fees and walks through the application process, according to Nashville.gov. Sharing lost-and-found posts on Facebook and Nextdoor and connecting with local rescues can help reunite pets with owners and open up kennel runs a little faster. Before bringing any animal to MACC, officials urge residents to double-check the latest intake status on the shelter’s official channels.
