By Jill Humphrey
Amarillo has an extreme overpopulation of cats and dogs! Amarillo Animal Management & Welfare (AAMW) kills healthy, viable animals weekly just for space. This says a lot about Amarillo as a city. As the “no kill” animal shelter movement sweeps through parts of the nation and even parts of our state- such as Austin, Dallas, Lubbock, El Paso - Amarillo remains a high kill shelter. To move to “no kill” means changing a mindset, it means hard work, it means being willing to do things a different way.
One way city shelters (pound) track their success is through the live release rate. To be considered “no kill” the live release rate (how many animals leave the shelter alive) must be 90% or better. That’s a little bit confusing, but that is the way the terminology is used. Live release rates in Amarillo have been historically low – meaning we kill a lot of animals. Rescues can gage success or impact we are having by looking at the live release rate. However, in Amarillo, the last time this data was published was February 2019. At that time, the live release rate was 74%, sadly. Though rescues have not had a measure of how they are doing for months, rescues continue to save as many lives as they can knowing that they are at least making a difference in the lives of some.
AAMW cannot be entirely blamed for the problem. Amarillo has backyard breeders who are out to make a quick buck without any regard for the consequences of their actions. The city also has a problem with a part of our population who view their pets as disposable. Frequently, if not daily, AAMW has people walk through their doors and “surrender” their pet. Their excuses range from “…the dog tore up my carpet…” to “…I am moving…” Since an owner surrender is not considered a stray and no one is actually looking for the dog, the animal is at risk of being euthanized on intake. Often, even when the owner is told the animal will die, the person will still walk away.
My purpose in writing was not necessarily to bring up my distress over the fact that Amarillo continues to be a kill shelter. I started out writing a Rescue 101 piece, but it is hard to do without some background information so that readers will know Amarillo has an enormous animal welfare. I also did not want it to be a complaint piece, but rather an educational one. I may fail.
What people do not know about the majority of the Amarillo and surrounding area rescues is that they are made up entirely of volunteers with very few exceptions. These volunteers have jobs, families, responsibilities. They rescue because of a love and passion for the dogs and cats they save.
Rescues for the most part, remain full. There are only a few rescues that even have any kind of facility to house animals, Gracie’s Project and Animal Rescue Shelter are a few. The way that rescues save a majority of animals is by asking volunteers to foster– meaning to keep the dog or cat in their home until the dog is adopted. Fosters are provided with food if needed. The rescue pays for all costs of vetting which includes spay or neuter, shots, and a microchip.
Rescues are asked daily to take in strays, to take dogs because owners are moving, or to rehome dogs. It is impossible to meet all of the daily requests, and it is important to remember that rescues are typically saving dogs from death…not from a person who decides to move without his pet.
What can you do? If you find a stray, post it on Facebook on the lost pet pages. Take it to a local vet and have it scanned for a chip. Make arrangements to keep the dog safe by finding it a safe place for a few days – a garage, a friend’s house, a bathroom. You have the same immediate resources at your fingertips as a rescue. If you contact a rescue, most will take the dog into the program if you agree to foster the dog.