(KRON) — The San Jose Animal Care and Services Center is experiencing record-high numbers of cats and dogs entering the shelter and staying for long periods of time. The shelter urgently needs community members to adopt or foster animals.

The shelter currently has 915 animals on site: 255 dogs and puppies, 598 cats and kittens, and 62 other pets, such as rabbits.

“With our shelter at capacity, taking in an animal can save the life of another. Now is a great time to consider fostering or adopting a shelter animal,” said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.

In March, the shelter took in an average of 188 animals a week. That number jumped up to 348 animals per week in April, and “those are just stray pets,” shelter workers wrote.

Last month, members of the public brought 743 kittens to San Jose Animal Care and Services Center. That number is expected to rise in June, which is considered peak kitten season.

This fuzzy kitten is one of hundreds in need of a home at San Jose’s animal shelter. (Image courtesy San Jose Animal Care and Services Center)

City Manager Jennifer Maguire said, “I am a proud parent of two shelter pets. Pets are like family members and an important part of our community. I urge our community to help a shelter pet by adopting or fostering.”

See all the adoptable pets at gis.sanjoseca.gov/apps/petcompass.

To manage the number of pets and provide optimal care, the shelter is limiting intake from the public to only sick, injured, or aggressive pets, and Animal Services Officers are triaging animal pick-up due to the lack of space.

“There is a national crisis in shelters across the country, with more pets entering shelters and staying longer,” explained Jay Terrado, Deputy Director of ACS. “I thank our rescue and shelter partners that have transferred animals from ACS to other shelters and partners. Their support immensely aids our efforts with ensuring shelter animals have the best opportunity of finding a forever home.”

These kittens are looking for forever homes. (Images courtesy San Jose Animal Care and Services Center)

The community can help the shelter pets at San Jose Animal Care and Services Center by:

Adopting: All adoptions are completed in person at the Center at 2750 Monterey Road, San Jose, on Mondays noon – 4 p.m., Tuesday-Fridays 10 a.m. -6 p.m., and weekends 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fostering: Consider fostering to give a shelter pet all the benefits and love of a home for a few days, weeks, or months. You can foster an available pet of your choice.

Don’t Kitten-nap: If the kittens are safe, observe to see if the mother returns from a safe distance. The best thing to do for kittens is to keep them with their mother. If a kitten is visibly sick, or if mom has not returned for over 12 hours, bring them to ACS. Intake is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Found a stray pet: Please consider keeping the pet in your home — even for a few days. Most pets are found within the first 72 hours thanks to flyers posted in neighborhoods and social media posts on Nextdoor, Facebook, and Paw Boost. If you lost a pet, you can complete a lost report at the shelter.

Rehome a pet: Reach out to your network of friends and family, and post on self-rehoming platforms like home-home.org and www.adoptapet.com.