Officials say they are still working to hire more staff after the animal adoption center at the McHenry County Animal Control was temporarily shut down earlier this month due to staffing shortages.
The adoption center at the McHenry County Animal Control building in Crystal Lake closed on May 11 until further notice after officials said they were experiencing a staffing shortage.
“It takes a lot of people doing a lot of hard work to make our shelter run, and with our current staff shortage, we decided it was best to temporarily close our Adoption Center and transfer animals out to rescues for adoption,” McHenry County Animal Control (MCAC) said at the time.
Since then, 17 animals have been transferred to local animal shelters, the McHenry County Department of Health said on Friday.
As of Friday, 23 animals remain in the facility and six of those have been offered to local shelters for transfer, health officials said.
Staff members at the facility continue to care for animals at the shelter and take in stray animals and relinquished pets.
The facility also provides services like microchipping pets and pet registrations to the community.
McHenry County animal control officers continue to respond to calls as usual.
Officials do not anticipate any further disruptions to services and they are working to hire more people so they can resume animal adoptions as soon as possible.
The health department encourages anyone interested in a rewarding career to help fill in open positions at this online link.
“We are making strides in our search to find skilled staff to fill our open positions and expect to have additional positions posted by the end of next week,” the department said.
“We appreciate the outpouring of support and encouragement we have received from the community and our partners. Thank you for being our champions as we continue to serve you and the animals in McHenry County,” the department added.