A lack of oversight of dog rescues at Houston’s Bureau of Animal Regulation and Control shelter led to recent policy changes that administrators say will improve operations. However, in the short term, these changes mean more animals will be euthanized.
The city-owned BARC announced this month several changes including ensuring that nonprofit rescue organizations — or essentially anyone adopting animals — can adequately care for them. BARC also will no longer publish its euthanasia list, which in the past has led to mass adoptions from unvetted agencies, some of whom just abandon the animals at another location. At-risk animals must now be adopted within 24 hours rather than 48, according to a memorandum issued March 1.
The shelter has struggled with housing an influx of abandoned and abused animals, often the result of “animal hoarding.” And while previous leaders have found it appealing to release many animals at once, that’s not the best solution for public safety, said BARC Deputy Director Cory Stottlemyer. A recent report referenced 100 dogs from Harris County found in “deplorable” conditions on an Alabama farm, relocated by an out-of-state rescue group. Some rescue organizations have no credentials other than operating a Facebook group, Stottlemyer said.
And while BARC is increasing euthanization due to overcrowding and difficulty finding adequate homes, the shelter maintains high foster and adoption rates. According to data on the BARC website, more than 5,300 pets were adopted into homes last year with over 8,000 transferred to rescue organizations. About 3,500 were euthanized.
“As we focus on increasing intake and both accessibility to the public and our enforcement efforts, we’re trying to do what we can with the existing budget and existing staffing levels to streamline operations as much as possible,” Stottlemyer said. “As we increase intake, we’re going to be at capacity more. Those animals are going to be at risk more. We’re trying to streamline everything and work smarter, not harder.”
Stottlemyer said rescue groups will be subject to more frequent random audits and BARC is now imposing documentation requirements.
“In the past BARC was way more reactive,” he said. “The team would allow the outcomes to happen until we got word that there was a concern. Now we’re trying to be more diligent in tracking it. It resulted in us having to cut ties with some rescue groups. That’s one piece of the puzzle, making sure we’re doing our due diligence. Obviously we have a focus on live release but we want to make sure those animals aren’t being sent to worse conditions.”
Under a previous administration at BARC, there was heavy pressure to “keep the live release rate up.” Since then they’ve moved a rescue coordinator into a leadership role who is responsible for auditing and following up on investigations.
“We track to see if certain groups are pulling a large amount in a short period,” Stottlemyer said. “Especially in this post-COVID world, our rescue outcomes have taken a big hit. When we see someone pulling a large amount, we get concerned that they’re putting those animals in boarding facilities or that they are possibly hoarding them in small residences where there are a bunch of animals in one location. That raises a lot of issues from a cruelty standpoint and disease spread.”
They also have to vet individuals and families adopting pets, some of whom may be selling them online. Houston residents are permitted by ordinance to have up to three dogs and three cats in a home at a time.
“If you already have several animals at home, that might limit how many fosters you can take, but we do have plenty of networking opportunities for our volunteers to connect with our rescue partners … who may be interested. There are still ways to help,” Stottlemyer said. “Just this week we had somebody come in making the claim that two puppies they adopted passed away. We denied them another adoption. We asked for proof, like if they got a certificate or something from their vet. They clearly had just found something online and printed it out and faked a signature. This person was probably selling them for a profit. We marked them in our system ‘no adopt.’”
Ultimately the goal at BARC — which operates on a $16 million budget and has about 122 full-time employees — is to ensure public safety. BARC is the lowest per-capita-funded big city shelter in Texas, Stottlemyer said.
“The goal when it comes to outcomes is the most humane option for the animal,” he said. “We’re trying to protect human lives and make sure those animals on the street aren’t suffering. When we get sicker, injured animals that our vets determine it’s not humane to continue their suffering, we make the decision to humanely euthanize.”
Stray animals brought to the shelter may have been hit by a car or have behavior issues, he added.
“The majority of the animals are coming in through enforcement,” he said. “Those animals can run the gamut from timid and friendly to ones that are lunging and aggressive and have to be tranquilized in the field. Those animals are going to be deemed not safe to be put out in the public. At the end of the day, we’d rather the animals on the street get brought into BARC so we can find an outcome. It’s much more inhumane to leave them on the street.”
With recent reports of pet owners being mauled or hospitalized, Stottlemyer said BARC works hard to prevent such situations.
“As a result, we’re going to be making sure we’re closing out as many calls as possible from the public,” he said. “That means more animals are going to be brought in. Essentially with more animals coming in, we’re going to need kennels freed up quicker.”
Stottlemyer emphasized that the shelter does a lot to ensure that pets and humans are safe.
“We’re focused on adoptions and we’re making sure we’re finding as many outcomes as possible, but we also want them to be successful,” he said. “We don’t want to see those animals immediately turned back in or dumped.”
