Want a new kitten? Here's how to get one for free in Charlotte.

Summer is the busiest time of the year for most animal shelters, and Charlotte is no exception. Meows were coming from nearly every cage Friday at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Animal Care and Control facility.

The shelter is currently hosting 303 cats, which are spread out through the facility’s kitten nursery, holding areas and adoptable rooms. However, the department has more than 500 felines in its care between the shelter and foster programs.

The catty crowd is a very serious problem for Julia Conner, the agency’s humane education specialist.

“Right now we are at cat-pacity,” Conner said.

The mild winter months meant that the agency never got a break in cats coming through the door, said Animal Care and Control’s Melissa Knicely. In 2017, the agency went three months without receiving any kittens.

The agency wants to make it easier for potential pet owners to take home a new kitten, Conner said.

“If you’re looking for a cat or a kitten, this is the time to adopt,” she said.

In the cages and online, people can search for their ideal cat. Many cats have nicknames, personality types and age estimates listed. For example, Kiki, a 4-year-old black and white shorthair is described as an “executive.”

In May, they began a promotion called “You’ve got to be kitten me!,” which allows cats to be adopted for free as long as a donation is made to the agency’s kitten nursery.

The kitten nursery, which was built a year ago with the help of a grant from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, has helped the shelter save more young cats' lives, Conner said.

But people are dropping off more kittens than ever, she said, creating a big age imbalance among adoptable cats. It also means that people are more likely to overlook adopting an older cat in favor of a cute kitten.

"We hope that by fall things, will have calmed down and we won’t have as many cats and kittens coming in," Conner said. "(But) if we have to continue that special on into the end of the year, through the end of the year, we’re going to do that."