BARC animal shelter in Houston has been full for weeks. The Pasadena Pet Shelter is also at capacity and the need for short-term fosters has become an emergency.
The Houston SPCA is investigating more than 4,700 cases where pets have been abandoned, sometimes with no food and water. They’ve been seeing an “alarming rate” of pets left behind all over the Houston area since January.
On top of that, shelters in the Houston area are at capacity.
BARC animal shelter in the City of Houston has been full for most of October and now into November.
“This week we had a cruelty case, so our enforcement team went out to one house. There’s 28 dogs,” said Cory Stottlemyer, BARC Animal Shelter public information officer.
BARC currently has 400 pets waiting for homes.
“You know, a lot of people have been impacted by the pandemic. Some who were able to care for a pet one day, now they’ve gotten to the point, unfortunately, financially it’s just not something they’re able to handle, so they’ll come and they’ll bring them here,” said Stottlemyer.
The Pasadena Animal Shelter is also completely full. They say the need for short-term fosters has become an emergency situation.
“In an effort to maintain a safe and clean facility for our pets, the Pasadena Animal Shelter will be refurbishing the flooring of its main kennel and lobby at the end of November. As a result, the shelter is looking to move ALL dogs out of the kennel. Intakes and surrenders have already been halted for two weeks, but the shelter is still over capacity,” a press release from the City of Pasadena said.
The shelter will have extended hours next week to try and connect pets with new families next week.
- Thursday, November 18 from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
- Friday, November 19 from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Adoption isn’t the only way to help. You can also foster pets, volunteer at a shelter or make financial donations.
To learn more: https://www.houstontx.gov/barc/
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