Houston animal shelters and rescues are battling a stray animal crisis: ‘We are sinking’
Story in the Houston Chronicle today on the city’s rampant stray animal crisis that has local rescues burned out:
Houston is in the midst of a stray animal crisis — part of a nationwide drop in adoptions coupled with an uptick in pandemic pet surrenders and abandoned animals — that is leaving volunteer-run rescues, fosters and shelter staff burned out.
“It’s just nonstop, there is no break,” Anna Barbosa of Houston K-911 said.
Houston-area shelters have seen a significant drop in adoptions and fosters that is pushing facilities beyond critical capacity levels.
As the pandemic waned and employees returned to the office, animals started showing back up at shelters in droves. The uptick in evictions after COVID relief programs ended has added to the numbers.
The crisis — which is unfolding in the midst of a booming kitten and puppy season — has Aaron Johnson of the Montgomery County shelter and Rene Vasquez of the Fort Bend shelter feeling like all the progress they’ve made in recent years is lost.
“We all feel a little bit discouraged kind of, because we have all been working very hard in this industry to elevate things and this feels like a big hit to the animal welfare community as a whole,” Johnson said.
The issues that maxed-out local shelters are facing trickle down to rescues, which heavily rely on volunteers who foster animals waiting for adoption.
“It feels like we are sinking, and we are trying to stay afloat,” Kali Cabrera of Spring Branch Animal Rescue said.
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