My Experience with Houston Area Animal Shelters

I recently had the opportunity to learn a great deal about the animal shelters in the Houston, Texas area. On my way home one night my daughter saw a small terrier type dog in our front yard. Before I could say a word she had picked it up to "rescue" it. She thought she knew the neighbor that it belonged to but she was wrong and so began my journey through the animal shelters in the area.

First I admit to starting with my veterinarian for a list of places to contact to help me through the ups and downs of searching for animal rescues and shelters that are still open. We had taken the dog there to find out if he had a microchip to see if we could locate his "family." When she pulled out a three ring binder notebook from underneath her desk I admit to a great deal of fear that I would be making phone calls for weeks in order to find someone who could take in "Scruffy" as my daughters had begun calling our unexpected foster dog.

I already knew about Special Pals, a nonprofit, private charity that is a selective intake shelter. My daughters and I often participate in Moxie Mom events hosted at La Centerra and Special Pals is an organization that these events often donate too. We have been able to make monetary donations; or donations of paper towels, newspapers, and even stuffed animals or dog treats.

Their mission is to "to make the world a better place for healthy cats and dogs by providing temporary shelter, healthcare, an alternative to euthanasia, adoptive homes and education to the community about the responsibilities of pet ownership and the importance of spaying and neutering." Open 7 days a week, we found that Scruffy could not be taken in as they were full.

If you are interested in helping Special Pals you can donate online, register your Kroger card for donations as well as volunteer to help at the shelter.

My next stop was to Friends for Life, I didn't really know much about them but had noticed signs and information about them at my local PetSmart store where they also quite often have cats available for adoption.

They are a "No Kill" shelter which is impressive, and one of the fastest growing shelters in the Houston area. Their goal is to "to create programs that make life an option for both owner surrendered and homeless animals." One very impressive program is the Pet Retention program where they try to help owners and pets come together through education and training before owners let their pets go. They need help with donations, foster care and volunteers. You can even schedule your volunteer shift online!

I also contacted the Houston SPCA for information and found out that they too are a nonprofit, charitable organization that also offers very useful programs for pet owners, programs like: education, training, micro chips, spay/neuter clinics, lost and found and animal rescue. They offer some useful tips for finding your lost dog as well as online services to register information about them. I thought this could be helpful, maybe someone had posted their lost dog information and we could find little "Scruffy" his home. But we had no luck with making a match on the lost and found board. Their mission is "to promote commitment to and respect for all animals and free them from suffering, abuse and exploitation." Donations may be made in person, online or by contributing your time and resources as a volunteer or foster parent as well as attending their fundraising and other special events.

My next stop was to the Houston Humane Society another nonprofit animal shelter solely supported by donations. They state their mission is to "dedicated to eliminating cruelty, abuse, and the overpopulation of animals." They have a need for kitty litter donations, foster care, volunteers, and monetary donations. They have many different programs available in order to make your contribution.

Next, I contact CAPS (which I have to admit was my favorite along with Special Pals for a number of reasons). CAPS "provides shelter, adoption, foster care, rescue and other valuable services to animals in need in the Houston area. CAP also provides humane education and community outreach programs to encourage love and respect for all animals." What was most impressive was their high adoption rate at forty-seven percent, one of the highest rates in the state and three times the national average. They offer a variety of services from pet training and adoption to even wildlife education and laws. They provide assistance with support services and resources in order to help pet owners and foster pet parents to provide the best care possible to their animals. Last year they cared for over 12,000 pets. Their need is great requiring donations, money, volunteers and foster parents. Due to their successes they are growing and moving into a new facility.

I made many other phone calls after this trying to locate first anyone who had reported that their dog was lost or stolen, but after two weeks realized that I would have to find Scruffy new accommodations, since my household wasn't ready to take on another dog full time (we already had 2). I called CAPS back and decided to drop him off during their open adoption day, hoping that they would have someone adopt out so they could take him in. It worked! Since he was estimated at 4 years old and we could share that he was very well behaved with children we were hopeful that he found a new home. I admit that we also made some donations and took supplies with us hoping to help out in some small way. We hated to leave the little guy, but he helped our family realize that needs that animal shelters in the area have as well as some alternatives that are available to families with pets.

Sources:

Personal Experience

Special Pals
Friends for Life

One other helpful resources for locating a pet shelter in Texas is available at http://muttcats.com/shelters/texas.htm

Houston SPCA http://www.houstonspca.org

CAPS http://www.cap4pets.org/Houston Humane Society