Rows of metal kennels stretch endlessly along the walls of the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center, each one occupied. Moving from cage to cage, volunteers refill bowls with kibble and neatly fold blankets, keeping kennels in order. Beneath the click of leashes and bursts of barking, all seems manageable — until another animal arrives, and there is nowhere left to put them.
This was the reality the adoption center faced in 2023, when a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office operation forced a breeder in Riverside, Iowa to surrender 131 dogs after his farm was found in violation of Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship animal welfare standards. As a result of the operation, the adoption center reached more than six times its maximum capacity, as rescued dogs were adopted and relocated to rescues across the Midwest.
These capacity crises aren’t out of the norm for the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center, with kennels frequently full as more animals are surrendered, rescued or brought in as strays. The shelter can only hold up to 23 dogs and about 100 cats, leading to the use of temporary overflow shelters, where employees and volunteers work harder than ever. Devon Strief, the animal services coordinator at the adoption center, notes the importance of volunteers in day-to-day operations.
“On a regular day, we probably have between eight and 12 volunteers come in, whether they’re walking dogs, cleaning cats [or] doing laundry and dishes. We have one volunteer who comes twice a week in the mornings, and she does dishes, laundry and organizing donations,” Strief said. “We couldn’t do [it] without them.”
One of those volunteers is West High student Gavin Salge ’27, an aspiring veterinarian who has spent the past six months working with the shelter’s dogs.
“It’s fun. I feel like every time I go, there’s at least one new dog that I can meet,” Salge said. “The staff is really friendly. All the other volunteers are super helpful.”
For Salge, volunteering at the shelter has gone beyond simply spending time with animals, teaching him lessons about responsibility and how to navigate unpredictability.
“It’s helped me stay responsible and [improved] my experience with animals, because not every animal is going to behave the same [way]. You need to get used to how they might interact with you,” Salge said.
Salge recalls one instance with Beau, a typically friendly dog whose behavior quickly shifted.
“Beau was a really friendly dog. I played with him in the yard, and then I put him back in his kennel and [tried] to get his harness off of him, but he had food. He’s territorial, so every time I got near him, he would growl at me, [saying] ‘Okay, back off.’”
But volunteers aren’t enough to ease the overcrowding; increasingly, the shelter has turned to community partnerships to help animals find homes more quickly.
The Kitty Corner Social Club is a mission-driven cat cafe and lounge that partners with local shelters — primarily the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center — to encourage cat adoptions. Eleanor Paulsen ’27, a regular at Kitty Corner, recalls her first visit, which sparked a new favorite pastime.
“My friends took me there one day because they knew I love cats,” Paulsen said. “When I first [went there], it felt incredibly welcoming. It was a super warm place; the workers were all kind. The cats are playful, and everyone I’ve talked to who’s gone also finds a lot of love there — it just makes their day better when they’re having a rough day. It brings joy to the community.”
Located in downtown Iowa City, the cafe serves as a social hub for students and locals while promoting cat adoption. Since its opening last year, it has helped facilitate the adoption of around 280 cats.
“A lot of college kids that I know, including my siblings, often go to see the cats when they’re having hard school days or a week with tests. They’ll go study there instead of going to the library or somewhere boring,” Paulsen said.
Kitty Corner is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., except on Mondays. That break isn’t random; it’s part of Kitty Corner’s weekly adoption process, which helps the Iowa City shelter and other local organizations find new homes for cats.
“All of their cats come from shelters. By the end of every week, almost all of their cats get adopted, and then every Sunday, they get taken home by families,” Paulsen said. “They aren’t adopted by whoever [submits] the application first. The workers go through all the applications and figure out the most qualified owner for the cat. Then, more cats come on Monday, and it’s open for the rest of the week.”
Although the Iowa City adoption center is government-funded, places like Kitty Corner help to relieve overcrowding issues. In addition, organizations like the Friends of the Animal Center Foundation help fundraise for shelter operations throughout the year. The foundation played a vital role in raising funds for the center’s 2027 $1.3 million expansion, allowing for more animals to be safely housed in the center.
“We recognized the need for space — and needed more space the whole time anyway — but that was the catalyst to [the expansion],” Strief said. “The foundation has been hosting several events throughout the year [to] raise funds. They pledge about $90,000 a year to the shelter to provide medical care or supplies that aren’t otherwise budgeted in the city budget. The city budget covers basic things for animals, whereas [the foundation] covers things like [if] an animal comes in with a broken leg or needs an eye removed.”
Currently, Iowa is ranked third in the nation by the non-profit Humane World for Animals in their annual Horrible Hundred Report, a report that documents the worst offenders of federal and state violations recorded by puppy mill inspectors. In 2025, 12 of the 100 breeders listed resided in Iowa. Although caused by a multitude of factors, Iowa has relatively lenient animal welfare laws, exacerbating the puppy mill issue. However, the state legislature has responded to welfare groups’ concerns by passing HF 2674 in March 2026, providing greater oversight of pet breeders in the state.
“What we need is better regulations about increasing the number of breeding pairs that breeders can have. [This] also allows for more oversight from the Iowa Department of Land and Stewardship [with] more inspections,” Strief said.
With pet owners buying from breeders instead of adopting, Salge stresses the importance of adoption and encourages families looking for a pet to consider the practice. Animal rescue groups note that adoption helps prevent overcrowding at shelters, promotes ethical practices and saves pets’ lives.
“Adoption is a very important thing to consider when you’re looking for an animal, no matter how [much] you want a puppy. Oftentimes, you’ll find that you like the older dogs better. Maybe you don’t want them to be as hyper or have as much energy that you can’t provide,” Salge said.
Inside the shelter, the sounds of leashes clipping, bowls filling and kennel doors opening continue. As long as animals keep arriving, those rows of kennels will keep filling — each one holding an animal waiting for a home. The Iowa City Animal Shelter encourages families and those interested in adoption to visit.
