The league blamed the high costs of running the shelter for its decision, and pledged to "continue protecting the welfare of our community's pets."
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In its 2010 decision the Delaware County SPCA gave the community a year's notice that it would become no kill facility and later extended the transition by six months after county officials failed to come up with an alternative.
"This means no one will have anywhere to go with these animals," Connie Kondravy, co-founder of the Organization for Responsible Care of Animals, told the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal. "It's going to be like animals running in the streets. It's absolutely insane. I've been in this business 30 years, and I never thought I'd see this day."Lancaster County continues to have a pet overpopulation problem, she said.