The post-pandemic world has been tough on animal shelters, with many at capacity. "We operate every day off of a wait list for owner surrenders, and that doesn't include the number of strays that come in and others that come into our care," Animal Care Society's executive director, Jason Wetherington, said.The Animal Care Society is meeting the demand by expanding."Over the last 18 months, we've grown our campus from an acre and a quarter to just under five acres," Wetherington said.The expansion includes a new 5,000-square-foot adoption center and cat building that opened in February 2025."This is all part of a plan that started back in July of last year when we acquired the vacant land to the opposite side of the property that we're standing in now. This property became available in September of 2023, and we closed on it in October of 2023, and the renovations just finished in February," Wetherington said.The new building sits next to the original shelter at 12207 Westport Road in Louisville's Worthington Hills Neighborhood.Wetherington said the additional space allows the Animal Care Society to help more animals than ever before."Part of this expansion is to help increase the number of dogs and cats that we can take in and care for, but unfortunately, no matter how big we build or how far we expand, the need is so great in the community that, we'll probably never be able to catch up," Wetherington said.The need is so great, ACS operates every day with a waitlist for owner surrenders and takes in a steady flow of stray animals.Wetherington said part of the problem is a side effect of the pandemic."Shelters across the country, especially here in the Metro Louisville area, are consistently at capacity. There are a number of dogs and cats that are being surrendered as a result of the COVID uptick in adoptions," he said.As the need grows, so does the cost.The organization has operated for 41 years as Louisville's first no-kill shelter, funded entirely by donations from the community."We are entirely privately funded, and that's really unique for a nonprofit for 41 years to have served for over four decades to maintain that type of community support, and this is just a testament to that support and all the work that we do each and every day," Wetherington said.The Animal Care Society is restarting its volunteer program to help meet the growing demand. It's also offering corporate work days and other opportunities for the community to get involved. Upcoming events include the Pars for Paws Golf Scramble on June 2, 2025, benefitting ACS. Click HERE to get involved.