Shelter's cat population at all-time high; adopters desperately needed
Hillsborough County, Fla. (Oct. 17, 2025) - Hillsborough County's Pet Resource Center is overflowing with cats as the shelter grapples with a record high number of felines at a time the cat population normally starts to dwindle.
The shelter's population sat at 352 cats Thursday, or 628% of the stated capacity of 56. The shelter is working with pet rescue groups and foster parents to help house the overflow but desperately needs residents to come to the Pet Resource Center, 440 N. Falkenburg Rd., Tampa, FL 33619, and adopt any of the dozens of cats and kittens there.
The Pet Resource Center is Hillsborough's only open-admissions shelter, meaning it takes in stray animals regardless of age, breed, or size. That open-admissions policy means the shelter is often over capacity on dogs and cats, but the shelter has never before housed so many cats and kittens at one time.
Shelter officials say no single factor accounts for the dramatically higher numbers. There have been hoarding cases - the shelter took in 60 cats last month from a single home, for example - and residents continue to bring in stray cats and kittens at a high rate. Most of the cats available for adoption would make ideal indoor pets; the shelter also has a "Working Cats'' program to adopt out cats that are unlikely to adapt to an indoor life but would make great outdoor mousers.
The Pet Resource Center is open for adoptions from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Residents can view the hundreds of adoptable pets online at HCFL.gov/Adopt, including medical and behavioral records.