DAPHNE, Ala.—Everyone has likely seen them: the mopey, mangy mutt, sniffing its way up a sidewalk or street, wearing a blanket of confusion as its tail wags worriedly while it looks for its home.

Or maybe it was a lost kitten, furiously hissing from a tree branch as it copes with a cold world, seemingly marked by fear, isolation and the routine search for sustenance.

Saturday is National Homeless Animals Day and with efforts from organizations like the International Society for Animal Rights and local offices such as the Daphne Animal Shelter, some of these wayward animals may soon become family pets.

Local officials contend a rise in animal abandonment is due, in part, to the national economic decline. It seems many people can’t afford to take care of their pets.

“Right now, we’re getting a lot of drop-offs,” Daphne Animal Shelter control officer Linda Matthews said.

“It’s because they can’t afford them or just don’t want them.”

The shelter has seen a dramatic increase in the number of abandoned kittens, having almost doubled the amount the shelter housed at this time last year.

Daphne Animal Shelter will try to board homeless animals as long as possible; eventually, an outside organization will intervene.

“They’re supposed to stay 10 days,” animal control officer Rhonda Jones said. “But we hold them as long as we can, space-wise.”

Matthews cited the efforts of Maddie’s Fund, a no-kill adoption program that aims to find homes for unwanted pets.

Maddie’s will often transfer animals to other shelters but, according to Jones, Maddie’s also struggles with overpopulation.

“We’ve had them pulled from other stations,” Jones said, citing shelters like The Haven in Fairhope. “They’ve helped us in the past but they’re as jam-packed as we are.”

However, Maddie’s capabilities can be limited, as its primary function is to provide for those on government assistance.

“Maddie’s program is more to help people on Medicaid so they can get their pets spayed and neutered,” Matthews said.

Local pet owners considering getting rid of their animals have options available that could reduce the overcrowded conditions.

“Some of the owners could try to find them a home instead of bringing them to us,” Jones said, referring to posting ads and joining online animal adoption groups.

Owners can bring a photo and description of their pet to the shelter and the officers will post an ad on a bulletin board.

National Homeless Animals Day—celebrated annually on the third Saturday of August—was established in 1992 as an informative platform on which to educate society about animal shelter conditions, including the often unavoidable results of overpopulation, namely, putting unwanted animals to sleep.