Why Houston's animal euthanasia rate is increasing
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The City of Houston's animal shelter remains overcrowded — with limited space, high intake and lower adoption rates.
Driving the news: The Bureau of Animal Regulation and Control (BARC) has already euthanized more than 2,600 animals so far in 2023, surpassing its 2022 total of nearly 2,300 — which was significantly higher than the 966 in 2021.
The big picture: Nationwide, animal intakes at public and private shelters are expected to reach a three-year high this year, and animals leaving shelters through adoption or returns to owners are not keeping pace, Axios' Carrie Shepherd writes.
State of play: BARC — along with a dozen other shelters — will be participating in a mega-adoption event this weekend in hopes of getting more animals adopted and into safe homes.
- There will be over a thousand cats and dogs at the George R. Brown Convention Center, and the event will help shelters break the stigma of the kinds of animals available for adoption, Cory Stottlemyer, a spokesperson for BARC, tells Axios.
What's happening: During the pandemic, BARC shifted its intake model: The public now has to schedule an appointment, and most of the animals at the shelter come from the enforcement team, which responds to calls.
- While this did decrease BARC's intake numbers, adoption rates also declined. From 2016 to 2019, there was an average of about 8,000 adoptions each year. Since 2020, there have been about 4,000 adoptions every year.
- Plus: BARC used to be drastically overcrowded. And while it's still overcrowded, the shelter adopted a capacity-to-care model in 2021, which decreased the number of animals that can be temporarily housed.
Reality check: BARC, as a city-run shelter, can't decline to take in animals. But most of the animals being brought in are from priority calls — as in animals being aggressive or chasing people, dogs running loose near schools, etc. — and those animals often don't do well in the shelter, aren't socialized and have a difficult time getting adopted, Stottlemyer says.
- Many of those animals, largely dogs, are available only for BARC's rescue partners, like rehabilitation nonprofit Rescued Pets Movement, which gets hundreds of animals from BARC monthly.
Between the lines: Housing and economic strain are driving more people to relinquish their pets, Stottlemyer tells Axios.
- He added that once the pandemic eviction moratoriums were lifted, some pet owners faced housing insecurity or had to downgrade, and "people had to make really hard decisions."
- Plus, a lot of the breeds at BARC are those that are often restricted at apartment complexes, per Stottlemyer.
By the numbers: BARC has a care capacity of 200 cats and dogs total, but Stottlemyer says they're often over that capacity. Dogs stay at the shelter for approximately eight days and cats stay about five.
- In 2021 and 2022, BARC had over 17,000 intakes. As of Sept. 30 this year, BARC has had taken in nearly 15,000 animals.
Be smart: If you're planning on attending the mega adoption event, Stottlemyer recommends that you have your setup ready in your vehicle and ensure you're fully prepared for adoption.
- "The last thing we want is somebody to take a dog and they didn't really plan it out and they have to return it," Stottlemyer says.
- He adds that fostering and volunteering are options if you're unable to adopt.
What we're watching: Last year, Houston voters approved a $47 million bond for new BARC facilities and upgrades to its existing facilities, but it may take years for construction to even begin, per Stottlemyer.