Students surrender pets back to animal shelter
Numbers rise at Spring Break and end of semester
By: Kristin Zoller
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: News
Most students are unaware of city ordinances regarding pets, such as needing a license for each, and have been receiving tickets for violating these laws. To view the city ordinances, go to www.ci.nacogdoches.tx.us and click on the City Departments- animal control link.
Also, in order to prevent more unwanted or homeless animals, the pet owner must also pay for the animal to be spayed or neutered at the time of adoption. If the animal is still too young to have this procedure done, the owner will be supplied with a certificate to present to a local veterinarian to spay or neuter their pet once the animal is old enough.
"The biggest, most important thing is understanding the responsibility of what it takes (to own a pet)," Harris said. "It is a lifelong commitment."
The city supplies the Nacogdoches Animal Shelter with the facility and a $240,000 budget to cover salaries, utilities, building maintenance and upkeep. This amount does not cover food, vaccines, heartworm tests or de-worming medication; all these products must be donated. The shelter is able to feed animals by food donations from Wal-Mart, which gives the shelter any bags of pet food with holes or food that has gotten old.
Harris graduated from SFA in 2003 with an animal science degree. She earned her master's degree in 2005 in general agriculture. Her thesis research was over the Parvovirus and seeing which vaccine puppies respond to quickest. She has applied this research to her job and knows which vaccines are the best for animals in the shelter environment. The Nacogdoches Animal Shelter only uses the vaccine with the quickest antibody response.
Harris said the shelter's goal is by 2012 to only have to euthanize the animals that can't survive. "It does not get easier (to euthanize) every day," she said. "We are trying every avenue to reach a no-kill shelter. It's a slow process, but we are being very progressive with it."
In 2006, 5,219 animals were surrendered and 865 were adopted. In 2007, 5,679 were surrendered and 729 were adopted. Although the adoption rate has dropped from 76 percent to 59 percent, more animals are euthanized than are adopted every year.
"There are some of us who get attached (to the animals,) but this barrier has been put up," Harris said. "Each staff member has a selected day to euthanize, and we do it in the most humane way possible."
The shelter takes in dogs, cats, pot bellied pigs, horses, rabbits, cows, deer, rats, birds, snakes and various other animals. There is no room to keep large animals like horses or cows at the facility so Bill Plunkett, manager of the Nacogdoches Expo Center, lets the shelter house them there.
At the shelter, cats and puppies are kept inside in cages, and large dogs are kept in outside cages since they require more room. In order to get to know an animal better, potential pet owners can take the dogs and puppies outside to play in a fenced-in area. There is a room inside to play with the cats.
There are six employees currently working at the shelter, and each is assigned to a different room.
kzoller@thepinelog.com
Also, in order to prevent more unwanted or homeless animals, the pet owner must also pay for the animal to be spayed or neutered at the time of adoption. If the animal is still too young to have this procedure done, the owner will be supplied with a certificate to present to a local veterinarian to spay or neuter their pet once the animal is old enough.
"The biggest, most important thing is understanding the responsibility of what it takes (to own a pet)," Harris said. "It is a lifelong commitment."
The city supplies the Nacogdoches Animal Shelter with the facility and a $240,000 budget to cover salaries, utilities, building maintenance and upkeep. This amount does not cover food, vaccines, heartworm tests or de-worming medication; all these products must be donated. The shelter is able to feed animals by food donations from Wal-Mart, which gives the shelter any bags of pet food with holes or food that has gotten old.
Harris graduated from SFA in 2003 with an animal science degree. She earned her master's degree in 2005 in general agriculture. Her thesis research was over the Parvovirus and seeing which vaccine puppies respond to quickest. She has applied this research to her job and knows which vaccines are the best for animals in the shelter environment. The Nacogdoches Animal Shelter only uses the vaccine with the quickest antibody response.
Harris said the shelter's goal is by 2012 to only have to euthanize the animals that can't survive. "It does not get easier (to euthanize) every day," she said. "We are trying every avenue to reach a no-kill shelter. It's a slow process, but we are being very progressive with it."
In 2006, 5,219 animals were surrendered and 865 were adopted. In 2007, 5,679 were surrendered and 729 were adopted. Although the adoption rate has dropped from 76 percent to 59 percent, more animals are euthanized than are adopted every year.
"There are some of us who get attached (to the animals,) but this barrier has been put up," Harris said. "Each staff member has a selected day to euthanize, and we do it in the most humane way possible."
The shelter takes in dogs, cats, pot bellied pigs, horses, rabbits, cows, deer, rats, birds, snakes and various other animals. There is no room to keep large animals like horses or cows at the facility so Bill Plunkett, manager of the Nacogdoches Expo Center, lets the shelter house them there.
At the shelter, cats and puppies are kept inside in cages, and large dogs are kept in outside cages since they require more room. In order to get to know an animal better, potential pet owners can take the dogs and puppies outside to play in a fenced-in area. There is a room inside to play with the cats.
There are six employees currently working at the shelter, and each is assigned to a different room.
kzoller@thepinelog.com
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 8
Anne
posted 3/06/08 @ 4:20 PM CST
I think it's despicable for students to adobt a pet and then give it up to be euthanized when they don't feel like taking care of it. If that is how they treat a pet then how will they treat a child? If you say that those are two different things you are wrong. (Continued…)
giovanni flores
posted 3/07/08 @ 4:25 AM CST
At some point people must take responsibility for their pets. Dogs and cats do not choose to be taken home and then cast aside when they become inconvenient. (Continued…)
Martin
posted 3/10/08 @ 11:59 PM CST
It is too bad that these pets can't surrender their owners over to a daycare center or a mental institution.
Martin
Cord
posted 3/12/08 @ 9:32 AM CST
I adopted a 1 year old black lab in 2002 from the Nacogdoches animal Shelter....Ace is still with me to this day and has been such a great factor in my life. (Continued…)
Jerry Williams
posted 3/16/08 @ 10:39 PM CST
Would you send me a listing of possibly cheap places to get a female pet neutered?
mike
posted 3/17/08 @ 7:58 AM CST
I adopted a dog form a rescue shelter, it it is hands down the best dog i have ever had. It is a shame when somone puts partying in front of an animals life, what type of human being and productive member of society is this person going to be in the future. (Continued…)
Diana
posted 3/24/08 @ 7:32 AM CST
My first cat was a student cast away. I was a senior in college and this starving and sickly cat was walking along the curb unaware of the traffic going by her. (Continued…)
Hilary
posted 3/24/08 @ 3:02 PM CST
Well it's ABOUT TIME that they did something about the SFA students adopting pets!! Irresponsible students are the MAIN reason that there are so many stray colonies of cats in this area!!
I have a couple of kitties that I have rescued and adopted that were starving and pregnant. (Continued…)
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