MUNCIE, Ind. — Before Muncie Animal Care and Services office manager Ashley Honneycut even arrives at Bluebell’s kennel, the dog positions itself excitedly for what it knows is coming next.

“At this point she’s familiar with every part of this building, she has the routine down,” Honeycut said.

The pit bull mix is led to the facility’s education room for a short reprieve from the 4-foot-by-8-foot cinderblock enclosure where she’s spent the majority of the last 11 months. As the shelter’s longest-stay resident, this room is where she’s met dozens of potential adoptive families.

And, familiar with the routine, Bluebell knows when her visitors leave the room, it's time to head back to her kennel.

“It’s crazy she’s still here,” Honeycut said. “I think part of it is we have her listed as a single dog.”

Shelter director Melissa Blair said “single” dogs, dogs that need to be the only pet in a home, have the hardest time getting adopted.

“I think it makes people nervous,” Blair said. “Bottom line is, this is a shelter environment, these animals are likely afraid and they just need a home where they can flourish.”

Blair said, with dog and cat adoptions at a crawl, Bluebell’s not the only resident inexplicably “stuck” at the MACS.

The shelter staff is struggling to keep up with the needs of more than 200 adoptable cats and more than 40 adoptable dogs — many of whom are long-term shelter residents.

“We have been getting slammed with animals this month,” Blair said. “Usually we are inundated with cats during ‘kitten season’ but, for some reason, dogs are coming in faster.”

Blair said, in addition to meeting the needs of a higher proportion of long-term shelter stays, the facility has been taking in three or more stray dogs per day.

Hoping to mirror the viral success of the shelter’s recent promotion where residents could pay off Muncie parking tickets in exchange for cat food donations, Blair announced the facility will be holding a “No Barking Zone” sale.

“The community support from that promotion was phenomenal and we are still getting donations,” Blair said. “But adoptions have been kind of stagnant.”

Beginning at noon on Saturday, Aug. 3 and ending at noon Sunday, Aug. 4, cat adoptions will be $5 and dog adoptions will be $10. Blair said a supplies donation equivalent to those prices will also be accepted as payment.

“They’ve been parked here long enough,” Blair said.

Jordan Kartholl is a photojournalist at The Star Press. Contact him at 317-217-8681, jkartholl@muncie.gannett.com or @kartholl