The City of Waco is proposing to make $2 million in improvements to the animal shelter. The move is part of the city’s plan to become ‘no kill’ as soon as possible.
Don Bland is the executive director of the Central Texas Humane society. He’s giving me a tour of Waco’s animal shelter and showing me some of the improvements that would happen if the city renovates the facility. Having space to house more pets might be the biggest takeaway, but also, the present facilities are just really hard to keep clean.
"And when they clean these kennels they actually physically have to remove the dog, put it somewhere and if there’s not an empty kennel they have to put it out in the playpen and if it’s raining they can’t put it in the playpen, they have to bring a crate in here and put it in the crate while they clean this, let it dry and then put it back in," Bland says.
The improvements would include a new adoption center, a bigger pet play area, more dog kennels, and an on-site vet clinic. Waco City Council has committed about $500,000 to fund an expansion of the animal shelter, but they’re looking for $1.5 million in community pledges—that’s coming from citizens, grants and foundations.
"If we could get a new shelter built that could handle more animals and with more-adoption friendly, easy to clean all those things, I know that we could be a no kill shelter," says Dori Helm with the City of Waco.
The city has been moving towards a ‘no-kill’ status for a couple years now. No-kill means a live-exit rate of over 90 percent. In 2012 only 33 percent of the animals that came to the shelter ever came out. That number almost doubled to 61 percent in 2013. And this year? 83 percent of the animals that come to the shelter are adopted, rescued or reclaimed.
The city has tried to control the animal population in a big way. Earlier this year the city passed a law that required all animals be spayed or neutered and microchipped. And the Humane Society set up volunteer groups to help people with low incomes get their animals spayed or neutered for free.
But, the city says trying to control the Waco’s animal population only works to a certain point. Every city’s going to have to deal with strays or unwanted pets, take care of them animals once they get them, and that’s hard to do when parts of the animal shelter are 50 years old.
"And so it was just a common problem in every city," Helm says. "Sometimes you’re behind the curve and we were just overgrown with dogs and cats. And so we knew the shelter was taxed, we knew our animal control officers were having a hard time."
Another focus of the renovations will be to create a better environment for citizens to adopt animals. Don Bland with the Humane Society envisions it as a welcoming place where families could spend an afternoon looking at animals.
"It'll be shade-cloth and nice pens and areas to visit and exercise the animals," Bland says. "Look more like a playground I think rather than rocks under the tree."
The Humane Society and city will be announcing a campaign to raise funds for the renovations next week. And, the Humane Society’s Wine and Food Festival benefit is October 25th in Indian Spring Park.