Dallas Animal Services has been seeing substantial improvement in terms of adoption figures as the City agency logs fewer and fewer cases of dogs being put down.
The City has been putting resources behind Dallas Animals Services’ (DAS) efforts to promote adoption. Only just a month ago, DAS was significantly over capacity when it came to dogs, a situation that other municipalities around the metroplex were also experiencing, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“We cannot save lives without the community, and we have seen that in times of extreme overcrowding in the shelter, they will show up to help,” Sarah Sheek, assistant general manager of community management of DAS, previously told The Dallas Express earlier this year.
In Texas, around 82,000 animals were euthanized in animal shelters in 2023, reflecting the challenges that shelters face in managing overpopulation and limited resources. While efforts are being made to improve adoption rates and reduce euthanasia, many shelters are still struggling to reach the “no-kill” benchmark, where 90% of animals entering shelters are saved. Advocacy groups and communities are pushing for more support and resources to achieve this goal by 2025, according to Best Friends Animal Society.
Here’s some of what Fox 4 KDFW reported on the latest figures at DAS:
Even though we are still in the dog days of summer, Dallas Animal Services is seeing a success story. The rate of dogs leaving the shelter alive is at 85 percent, compared with 75 percent a year ago.
DAS says the improvement happened even though 2,000 more animals came into the shelter this year.
“To take that many more animals in, and find that many more live outcomes is so heartwarming and wonderful, and we owe it to the community,” said Mary Martin, the Assistant Director of Dallas Animal Services.
Martin says she is encouraged by the increase.