Chata is a four-year-old English Bulldog currently sitting in Oakland Animal Services, and unless someone steps up — an adopter, a rescue, anyone — she's scheduled to be euthanized as soon as today, May 15.

Let that sink in. A healthy, four-year-old dog, gone, because the system ran out of room and ran out of time.

This isn't a knock on the workers at Oakland Animal Services, who are stretched impossibly thin and doing thankless work. It's a knock on a broader East Bay shelter system that has been chronically underfunded, overcrowded, and left to make impossible triage decisions while city councils pour money into consultants and committees. Oakland's animal shelter issues have been well-documented for years — crumbling infrastructure, staffing shortages, capacity problems — and the political class keeps kicking the can down the road.

Meanwhile, dogs like Chata pay the price.

The Bay Area response has been encouraging, at least. Word spread fast online, with one local commenting, "She has such a delightful hopeful face. I hope the right person finds her in time." Another resident said their mom might be willing to adopt if Chata is good with other dogs — proof that the community often moves faster than the bureaucracy.

If you're in a position to adopt or foster, contact Oakland Animal Services directly. If you can't take her in, share the word. Rescue networks run on signal-boosting, and sometimes a single share is the difference between a dog finding a couch to sleep on and the alternative nobody wants to think about.

We talk a lot in this space about government accountability and misplaced priorities. Here's a case where the failure is measured in something more gut-wrenching than dollars. Chata deserves better. So does every animal sitting in an overcrowded municipal shelter while officials debate budget line items.

Step up if you can. Time's up.