Harris County Pets Temporarily Suspends Animal Surrenders Due to Animal Overcrowding
Harris County Pets (HCP) is suspending animal surrender and stray intakes effective July 1, 2023, and will re-evaluate on August 1, 2023, due to the overwhelming amount of animals at its facilities. Animal adoptions, fosters, rescues, and volunteer opportunities will continue under normal operations. Animal control officers will limit animal intake to priority calls such as aggressive, sick, injured, and those involving bites.
Temporarily suspending animal intake is necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of the animals under our care. HCP has almost 300 animals over its capacity (currently 767 animals). About 40% of animals brought to the shelter are surrendered by owners. Although not all animals that arrive at the shelter are adoptable for various reasons (e.g., elderly, feral, sick, aggressive, or injured animals), many of them would make great pets for individuals and families.
“We are taking precautions to ensure the safety and wellness of our pets and visitors,” said Corey Steele, Harris County Veterinary Public Health Director, which operates HCP at 612 Canino Road. “Our facility has seen a big surge in animal surrenders over the past months. We are highly aware of the risks of having so many animals and are focused on maximizing our services in the best way possible while saving animals.”
Currently, all adoptable animals at the HCP Resource Center are free of charge to a loving home! All adopted animals from HCP are spayed or neutered, receive age-appropriate vaccinations (including rabies), are microchipped, and receive a one-year Harris County pet license.
HCP encourages residents to spay or neuter their pets to prevent the influx of unwanted animals.
About Harris County Public Health Division of Veterinary Public Health (VPH)
Veterinary Public Health, a division of Harris County Public Health, provides veterinary care and finds forever homes for homeless shelter pets, a pet wellness clinic for the public, zoonotic disease surveillance, responsible pet ownership education, as well as animal control services in neighborhoods throughout unincorporated Harris County and certain municipalities within Harris County. VPH manages Harris County Pets Resource Center. Visit Harris County Pets at CountyPets.com.
Source: Harris County Pets
