MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — Dogs at the Big Lake Humane Society received a tasty treat on National Hamburger Day — freshly-made cheeseburgers straight from a local restaurant.

This special celebration was meant to get tails wagging but staff say it also highlights an urgent need for food and supplies.

Like many shelters across the county, this community-supported nonprofit is facing a capacity crisis, sheltering more dogs than they have kennels. With the rising number of intakes and limited resources, staff are struggling to keep food on the shelves, especially specific food for animals with dietary needs.

“We are very low on food for everyday purposes,” said Velvet Lyght, shelter manager at Big Lake Humane. “We have seniors that we’re out of food for, we have puppies we’re out of food for, we don’t have any more sensitive stomach food. We ran out for both cats and dogs, and we also took 40 kittens last week and we need kitten soft and hard food.”

Hamburger Mikey, a Muskegon burger shop, donated more than 20 cheeseburgers to the shelter, one for every dog waiting for its forever home. Two of the dogs even got to ride along in the Big Lake van to pick up the burgers, getting a whole lot of love from both customers and employees.

“Everybody deserves a burger,” said Tim Taylor, managing partner at Hamburger Mikey. “I deserve a burger, you deserve a burger … these dogs, especially today. They’re looking for people to come adopt them and love them.”

Among one of the dogs that rode along is Marty McFly, an American bulldog mix who is the longest dog resident in their care. He’s spent the last 367 days and counting at Big Lake and Lyght said he likely spent the majority of his 3-year life living in shelters. Staff say he’s energetic, dog-friendly and does best in a structured home with a routine and a dog friend to play with.

“He’s a pretty classic shelter-overlooked dog,” Lyght said. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, smart, a bully breed, and has dark fur but he does fantastic with other dogs if they don’t mind playing with a tank.”

Marty’s adoption fee has been fully sponsored and staff hope someone will give him the chance he’s been waiting for. Hamburger Mikey is also giving anyone who adopts from Big Lake free hamburgers for both them and their new best friend.

While the dogs were the focus of the day, cats at the shelter didn’t go without any treats. Staff handed out lickable sticks for them to enjoy.

Lyght said the shelter is seeing continued increases in animal intake.

“It’s all these different puzzle pieces coming together that just creates an overpopulation crisis,” she said. “You just struggle because you can only have so many animals in a space to have them have a good quality of life and care.”

Big Lake Humane Society has served Muskegon County for decades but Lyght said it needs its community support.

“It takes a whole community,” she said. “It takes a village.”

You can find more information on how to donate, foster, adopt or support on Big Lake’s website or Facebook.