Fort Worth animal shelter cuts adoption fees to reduce overcrowding, ‘mega’ event set
The Fort Worth Animal Shelter is asking the public to help save animal lives by adopting or fostering a new pet, and it has reduced the adoption fee to $10 to make it easier.
The shelter is overcapacity at more than 650 animals, with newcomers being housed in temporary kennels. In the past year, there has been a 30% increase in the number of dogs coming into the shelter.
“Every day we’re at risk of euthanizing healthy, adoptable dogs because we just don’t have enough space,” shelter superintendent Jessica Brown said.
Fostering is an option for those who cannot commit to adoption. The shelter provides food and medical expenses for fostered animals while they await a permanent home.
The shelter needs temporary homes until a mega adoption event June 28 to June 30 at Will Rogers Coliseum, Cattle Barn 1. The Fort Worth Animal Shelter will be partnering with the Humane Society of North Texas for the biggest adoption event in the city. Admission to the event is free.
Anyone who adopts during the event will have the same discounted $10 fee. More than 800 pets found homes during the first mega adoption event in December.
Brown said even just taking a pet for a day or overnight helps animals reduce stress and stay healthy. The shelter can also use what you learn about the pet to better match it with a permanent family.
You can stop by the Fort Worth Animal Shelter or a PetSmart Adoption Center for more information and to adopt or foster a pet.
The $10 adoption fee includes vaccinations, a microchip, spaying or neutering and a medical examination. The shelter is also accepting donations and seeking volunteers.
A trend of overcrowded shelters
Dallas and Denton animal shelters are having a hard time with cats. Cats have more litters this time of year because of the warm weather, said Whitney Hanson, a manager at Dallas Animal Services.
The Dallas animal shelter is at 129% capacity for cats, but it is not as bad as it might sound because many are kittens and can share a kennel. The shelter was at 107% capacity for dogs a couple of weeks ago, she said.
Hanson said a large adoption drive helped reduce the number of dogs in the shelter, but those events lose their impact if they’re held too often
The Denton Animal Shelter just recently relieved overcrowding with an adoption campaign.
“More pets are always coming in around this time of year,” Animals Services Manager Randi Weinberg said. “This is what we call kitten season. The cats are having their litter of kittens and people are bringing them in because the cat may have abandon the kittens.”
With the end of the school year, Weinberg said many college students in Denton will surrender their pets because they can’t take them back home.
Facebook posts can quickly turn around overcrowding, though, Weinberg said. One Facebook post from the Denton Animal Shelter had 27,000 impressions.
Colin County’s animal shelter has found that reducing the adoption fees to $10 is enough to get the community to adopt.
A couple of weeks ago, the shelter was overcapacity with dogs.
“We’re always working to reduce the prices because we’re always up against overcapacity,” said Danny Davis, supervisor for animal services in Colin County. “We have people calling to surrender their pets a lot. It’s sad, but we do our best to re-home them.”
This story was originally published June 7, 2019 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Fort Worth animal shelter cuts adoption fees to reduce overcrowding, ‘mega’ event set."