Shelter says procedures will bring changes

TEXAS CITY — Two rescue groups said they have stopped taking dogs from the Galveston County Animal Shelter because too many are dying from diseases preventable by good vaccination procedures.

“We stopped doing that because the dogs had a 75 percent mortality rate,” said Mike Franklin, of Dickinson, a volunteer with Shelter Buddies and Labs for Rescue.

Three of four dogs he took died of complications from either parvo or distemper soon after they left the shelter, Franklin said.

The shelter was not doing an adequate job of assessing the animals or providing vaccinations, he said.

The groups stopped taking dogs from the shelter four months ago, he said.

County officials said they have begun vaccinating more animals, but many close to the issue argue problems will continue no matter what the staff does until the cramped shelter in Texas City is replaced by one that will provide more room to quarantine sick animals. Voters approved such a shelter last fall as part of a bond issue.

A Change In Protocols

The shelter staff began vaccinating all “adoptable” animals eight months ago, shelter director Kim Schoolcraft said.

Animals too sick or injured to be adopted are not vaccinated but are in a quarantine area until they are put down or a rescue organization takes them.

Cost had prevented a more aggressive vaccination program. Vaccinations cost $5 a dog and $3 a cat, Schoolcraft said.

Next year’s budget calls for $10,000 to $15,000 for vaccinating animals. That would cover vaccinations for about 3,700 animals.

That might not be enough if the numbers of strays that end up at the shelter continue to increase.

Many other shelters face the same problems as the county shelter — too many stray and abandoned animals for the money and space available. Shelters in League City and Friendswood, which are funded by the respective cities, for example, do not vaccinate animals at all, officials said.

League City shelter director Laural Powell said the shelter plans to adopt a policy similar to the county’s in October.

New Shelter Should Help

County commissioners in June approved a contract with an architectural firm that specializes in the design of animal shelters.

That firm will lead the design of the new shelter that likely will be in Santa Fe near Jack Brooks Park on state Highway 6. The new shelter will be designed to better isolate sick animals and be more adoption friendly.

National figures show only 12 percent of the animals purchased in the United States come from shelters.

Schoolcraft said she hopes the new shelter will help eliminate the stigma that only bad dogs and cats come from shelters.

Going into the new shelter will be something like going to a store at a strip center, and Schoolcraft said she would like to have a dog park next door.

The shelter this fall will begin using new computer software to better track animals and help maintain their health, Schoolcraft said.

Start Helping

The shelter’s advocates issued a challenge to its critics.

“Kim does everything she can to save a life,” said Denise Warren, president of the Animal Alliance, which operates a veterinary clinic in La Marque and provides medical care for the county shelter. “The only thing I can say is that she needs help.”

Warren said the public, not the shelter’s management or procedures, is at the root of the problem.

“The taxpayers are spending too much money to take care of dogs,” she said. “All we can do is educate and try to talk to people about spaying and neutering their animals.

“We deal with stupidity. These bad pet owners are the problem.”

Warren encouraged anyone who has problems with the shelter’s procedures to “go work there for a few days and see what they have to contend with.”

Franklin said he wouldn’t dispute that more help was needed, but he insisted county leadership should provide more focus on problems at the shelter.

“They need a blueprint to work by, and that doesn’t exist,” he said. “Several rescue groups don’t pull dogs from there anymore. Until they are doing a better job, we are staying away.”