A major change in how the Gloucester-Mathews-Middlesex Animal Shelter operates was announced this week.

The shelter, run by the Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society, will now no longer accept all dogs, cats and other pets surrendered to it. The GMHS has changed its intake policy at the shelter on Jackson Lane in Gloucester from one of open admission to limited, according to a release from the organization.

On Dec. 21, the GMHS Board of Directors unanimously approved the change, the release said. With the exception of residents from Mathews, for which the shelter serves as the county’s animal control facility, GMHS has placed a temporary moratorium on taking animals into the shelter, unless that animal is in immediate jeopardy.

Residents of Gloucester and Middlesex counties wishing to surrender an animal will be placed on a waitlist, the release stated.

The board, the release said, came to this decision after careful consideration of the needs of the shelter and the animals GMHS ...