Arlington Animal Services placed a temporary pause on taking in owner-surrendered pets as the shelter grapples with an influx of stray or lost pets.
Officials are not sure when the pause will be lifted, but the city shelter is now pointing to other locations and offering a lower adoption fee to relieve pressure.
“Our shelter is currently operating significantly beyond its capacity, making it challenging to accommodate new intakes,” said James Orloski, the city’s director of parks and recreation. “While we are proud to serve our community, surrendering animals to the shelter should be a last resort, as our limited space can unfortunately lead to negative outcomes for healthy, friendly animals.”
The shelter can hold up to 159 animals. However, it has been treating over 200 dogs per day since May, according to the city.
The shelter is currently urging those who want to surrender their pet to look into local rescue organizations such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas, Operation Kindness and the DFW Humane Society, along with other rehoming resources.
Danielle Fry, the operations manager at the DFW Humane Society, said this is an issue across the Fort Worth-Dallas area. The DFW Humane Society is not accepting owner-surrendered animals at this time.
“We’ve seen an uptick of people needing to surrender their pets as well as returns,” Fry said. “Everyone’s full.”
With owner surrenders so high across North Texas, nonprofits are in a tough situation, Fry said.
“We try to run at capacity,” Fry said. “We are a little different than a municipal shelter because we are a nonprofit, no-kill shelter. If we have space, we try to pull in any animal. It does make it hard because we don’t always have space to take in just our own surrenders.”
The DFW Humane Society has seen an uptick in inquiries about surrendering or bringing animals to the shelter over the past couple of months, Fry said.
The Arlington shelter lowered its adoption fee to $5 in hopes this will help clear the overflow. The adoption fee will also cover pet vaccinations, spaying or neutering, microchipping, certain health screenings and an annual city license for Arlington residents.
The DFW Humane Society also lowered its adoption fee to $25 and will provide vaccinations for pets. The fee also includes spaying or neutering, microchipping, certain medical screenings and a 30-day MetLife pet insurance policy provided after adoption.
Owners should first look to rehome their animal themselves before surrendering a pet, Fry said.
“If they can find a home for their pet, they are going to be able to find that best fit, and the animal doesn’t have to wind up in a shelter,” Fry said. “As much as we do our best to take care of the animals, it’s a stressful environment. Keeping them out of the shelter is ideal.”
Chris Moss is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@fortworthreport.org.
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