Work is underway for a new animal shelter in Ascension Parish, but it appears people aren't waiting for the space to open to leave their animals behind.

Construction workers at the site have found multiple animals dropped off without a second thought, and the same problem has been happening across the region. Johnathan Henriques with Another Animal Rescue Group, for example, found kittens left in a box on railroad tracks in Prairieville.

More than a dozen of these kinds of drop-offs have been discovered just this month. Last year people forced to stay home were seeking out pets. Now, the opposite is happening.

"It's extremely bad, especially this year with the extreme overpopulation," Henriques said. "We are noticing that it's a big increase over last year."

At the construction site, animal shelter organizers have been forced to post messages asking people to use safer drop-off locations for unwanted pets.

"We need to educate more," Henriques said. "And let people know more of the overpopulation, and the dumping is illegal. And to educate how to properly take care of these furbabies."

The work is not just building another shelter, but also better understanding.