Garland Animal Services has found success this year in controlling its shelter population by reducing the number of daily owner surrenders at its shelter.
To deal with overpopulation, Garland Animal Services significantly reduced the daily intake from owners surrendering their pets from five to two earlier this year.
Earlier this month, Art Munoz, animal services director for the shelter, told the animal services advisory committee that the city has already seen progress from the policy, with surrenders down to just 420 this year, versus 675 last year, reported KERA News.
“Although it doesn’t look like a huge number,” said Munoz, per KERA, “that’s a significant number to the shelter because that’s 200 less animals that could have been euthanized.”
Munoz said that the overpopulation issues plaguing North Texas and the rest of the state are due to both inflation and a pet boom during the COVID-19 pandemic. To assist owners in keeping their pets, Garland Animal Services provides low-cost vaccines and maintains a food pantry.
Limiting surrenders while providing aid to struggling owners helps the situation, according to Munoz.
Numerous animal shelters across North Texas, including Dallas, have been struggling with overcrowding.
According to its website, Dallas Animal Services reports that its dog shelter is currently at 122% capacity, sheltering 365 Dogs. In October, the shelter was at 170% capacity, attempting to house over 500 dogs in 300 kennels.
A local boy scout and his troop recently constructed doghouses out of donated materials after hearing of these struggles, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Eben Barnes, a 13-year-old member of the Boy Scouts, constructed and delivered 20 dog houses to the shelter.
