CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The summer is always a busy season for animal shelters.
With the holiday weekend ahead, shelters are hoping to make room for any puppies and kittens that run away, or get loose, during all of the Fourth of July excitement.
Ahead of the weekend, plenty of dogs still need a home -- even if it's temporary.
Corpus Christi Animal Care Services Senior Management Analyst Dave Parrott said a full facility is a big issue.
"The issue is: If I can't get dogs out, I can't bring dogs in," he said. "So then we leave dogs on the street or in a pop up-up kennel, which is not ideal."
What Parrott is hoping for is more adoptions as Animal Care Services kicks off its Doggy Day Out event.
"The ones that are super sweet and just want to be loved, I just don't know why they're still here," he said.
The Animal Care Services facility has seen 49 adoptions this month, compared with 47 this time last year.
"We're actually hoping that a citizen who's walking around the dogs will actually see the dog and want more information about the dog," he said.
Gulf Coast Humane Society Director of Marketing & Development Jackie McCullough said their group has seen more adoptions.
"Last June, we did 15 more adoptions than we did this year," she said. "Fifteen sounds kind of small, but in the grand scheme of things, when 15 dogs get adopted, we're able to save another 15 dogs."
The Gulf Coast Humane Society has over 130 dogs in its care, not including cats.
"And part of that is because summertime is puppy and kitten season," McCullough said.
Which makes right now the best season to adopt, in her opinion.
"I personally think summertime is the best time to adopt, just because -- especially if you have kids -- your kids are out of school, you can spend a little bit of extra time working with getting the dog or cat accustomed to your child," she said.
Whether you're looking for a smaller or larger dog, Corpus Christi Animal Care Services hopes the love these canines get during this weekend's event ends up being unconditional.
"We do have a lot of big dogs in building one," Parrott said. "We do have some small dogs that are adoptable. And now she's licking me because she just wants to be loved. I just don't understand why she's still here."