Animal shelters filling up across Central Texas
GEORGETOWN, Texas - Shelters across central Texas are at capacity.
Many say the need for fosters and adopters is at an all-time high as interest has decreased since the beginning of the year.
"The dogs are just flooding in and we need adopters and fosters," said April Peiffer, community program coordinator for the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter.
The shelter said they began seeing this spike following the recent storms and they’re even offering free adoptions for medium and large adult dogs and cats for those who make an appointment.
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"Heavy rains especially high-winds like that tend to bring more dogs to the shelter because fences fall down or they get spooked by the thunder. Loud noises scary them and they go running so they come here," said Peiffer.
Not only are they in big need of fosters and adopters but people to care for the animals at the shelter.
"More staff would be helpful, we are also in need of volunteers because they help us do so much of the work that we do they’re coming in and walking the dogs are cleaning the kennels, or socializing with cats," said Peiffer.
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They aren’t the only shelter in Central Texas that’s jampacked. Austin Pets Alive says this is the case throughout the area, them being no exception.
"One thing that has taken a dramatic rise over the past year is the financial crisis people are in with losing jobs and homes. We are seeing a large number of animals surrendered to public shelters and that just means more animals are at risk they don’t need to be if COVID didn’t happen," said APA! president Ellen Jefferson.
At Austin Pets Alive, they’ve seen a massive decrease in fosters, numbers they haven’t seen in over 10 years. "We don’t know why that is, we suspect it’s people going back to work and thinking the animal shelters are doing fine right now so my biggest takeaway from this is that if anybody’s in a position to foster or adopt they should because the animals need them," said Jefferson.
As the area returns to normalcy following the pandemic, Austin Pets Alive urges people to not forget about our furry friends.
Anyone looking to adopt a new pet is urged to check with their local shelter first because odds are they too are at capacity.