City's animal shelter needs your help
Saturday, December 18, 2010
HOUSTON (KTRK) --
The city's animal shelter says it's in trouble, fighting a capacity
crisis that's gotten bad in recent months and even worse in the last
couple of weeks.
There are hundreds of cats and dogs waiting for a new home or
having to stay at BARC, the city of Houston's animal shelter. There are
190 cats and 360 dogs. It's just too much.
"We have seen the
economic factors in the last year particularly drive the animals coming
in over the counter by 50 percent," said Dave Atencio with BARC.
But it's not just families who've fallen on hard times bringing pets
in. The law also requires BARC to care for some of these animals when
their owner is arrested, bite cases and animal cruelty victims.
"It takes up kennel space, but it also means that they're here for a little bit longer," said Atencio.
That's where volunteers like Mike Kinsella, come in.
"We're adopting out maybe 60 to 80 on weekends, and we're bringing in
80 to 100 a day," he said. "They don't match up. You do the math."
It's not a pretty picture.
"Families
coming in are real emotional, in tears because they have to give up a
pet for jobs, housing, whatever reasons they have," said Kinsella.
That's why BARC holds weekend events, "Wags to Whiskers," where right
now you can adopt at a 2 for 1 price, or half off, which is just $27.50 a
pet.
With Christmas approaching, you might be thinking about doing just that.
"It's
not a good idea to surprise someone," said Atencio. "But it's a great
idea to bring someone down, and ensure that it's the right match."
BARC is open on Christmas Day this year for limited hours when you
could pick a pet and give one of these guys a happy holiday. It's what
makes all the work worthwhile to volunteers like Kinsella.
"When you see a pet leave, with the tail wagging, and the kids, and the whole family, that's the whole reward," said Kinsella.
If you do adopt, be sure to have veterinary care lined up. You can find out more about BARC adoptions here.
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1 comment:
While I'm glad that the BARC animals are getting some media attention, the fact is that BARC could be doing a whole lot more to keep animals from ever entering BARC. Reno, NV returns 65% of the pets entering their shelter to their owners. Calgary AC returns 85%. BARC returns 7% of dogs and less than 1% of cats. If BARC would follow the same model as Reno, they could do the same. That would free up a whole lot of kennel space. The city has a step by step guide in their hands in the form of Nathan Winograd's assessment. So, why don't they use it? It could save 8,000+ lives every year and over $900,000.
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