FORT WORTH - Once again, city officials say the Chuck Silcox Animal Shelter is facing overcrowding conditions that may force it to euthanize what it classifies as adoptable animals for the first time since April 2010.
Rescue groups helped take enough animals on Wednesday to avoid euthanizing animals, but Code Compliance Director Brandon Bennett said the problem won't go away anytime soon."What I anticipate is we do this cry for help, and people are going to come out, but this is not sustainable," Bennett said. "People need to be keeping us in mind, not only now but a month from now. The bottom line is more animals are coming in than we can adopt out."In May, the shelter faced a similar crisis but was able to avoid euthanizing adoptable animals after the public poured into the shelter to adopt animals.That outreach program helped ease overcrowding issues for about three weeks before capacity began to swell again and reached the crisis mode over the weekend."On Tuesday, we adopted 55 animals, which is pretty good for a weekday, but we brought in 75 animals," Bennett said. "So each day we're falling behind. It's going to take a concentrated effort from rescue groups to help address this problem, not just today or tomorrow but for months to come. The bottom line is, not enough people are taking care of their pets and spaying or neutering them."The shelter has euthanized pets considered unadoptable for either health or safety reasons.Residents interested in adopting a pet can visit either of the two PetSmart Charities Adoption Centers at 2901 Texas Sage Trail or 4800 S.W. Loop 820 before heading to the shelter. The shelter address is 4900 Martin St.They can also call the main Code Compliance telephone number at 817-392-1234 or 817-392-7297.Bill Hanna, 817-390-7698Twitter: @fwhanna
Adopt a pet
To adopt a pet, visit either of the two PetSmart Charities Adoption Centers at 2901 Texas Sage Trail or 4800 S.W. Loop 820 before heading to the shelter. The shelter address is 4900 Martin St.
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