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One of my Dad's favorite sayings was "Knowledge is power!" This page is about what we can all do to help save more of Houston's homeless and abused animals and why spaying or neutering your pet is such an important part of responsible pet ownership!
Houston Area Shelters Offering Pets For Adoption and/or Low Cost Spay and Neuter Services
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HOUSTON-AREA SHELTERS & Breed Rescue Groups For a complete list go to:
Breed Rescue
What breed rescue is: Breed rescue programs provide help for unwanted, abandoned, lost and abused pets.
To adopt a German Shepherd Dog, contact:
www.austingermanshepherdrescue.org
To adopt a Lab, contact: Southeast Texas Labrador Retriever Rescue: http://www.txlabrescue.org/index.php
To adopt a Border Collie, contact: www.bcrescuetexas.org.
To adopt a mixed breed contact any of the Houston shelters listed above or : Baytown Humane Society (281) 424-3103 |
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Friends of BARC is looking for help in its mission of assisting the city Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care.• What the group does: Helps BARC find homes for animals by bringing them to pet stores on Saturdays for possible adoption; also raises money for BARC to buy items not in the budget.• How to help: E-mail Friends of BARC President Leigh Hollyer at dog@uh.edu. Holly's Den will give a 30% discount on private lessons to anyone who adopts a dog from BARC or who belongs to Friends of BARC. |
I have long felt that if my fellow Houstonians only knew how many animals are suffering and dying right here in our own city and county, because of pet overpopulation and lack of responsible ownership, we would band together to prevent this awful waste of life. This is a tragic problem, but one with a solution! We should all commend the Houston Chronicle and reporter Bill Murphy for the recent series of articles that is at long last shining a light on the plight of homeless animals in our community. The bible says that "a just man cares for his animals." Likewise, a humane society and community must care for its animals.
The Numbers
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More than 80,000 of the more than 100,000 animals that come into the five primary (Harris County) shelters annually are killed...About 80 percent of the dogs and cats killed last year were healthy, said veterinarian Dawn Blackmar, the county shelter's director." Many good people imagine they can bring their problem pets to the local shelter and the pet will be adopted to a good home. However, the number of potential adoptive homes do not begin to equal the number of surrendered pets added to the number of street strays. Here is the reality: According to recent stories in the Houston Chronicle, "Harris County has five primary shelters, operated by the county, the city of Houston, the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Houston Humane Society, and Citizens for Animal Protection..."The five shelters, along with veterinary offices, last year sent more than 1,000 tons of euthanized animals to landfills...in 2002, the Houston SPCA saw 28,863 animals killed, or 68 percent of the 42,420 pets it received. The other four facilities killed more than 53,000 animals (in 2003), or 80 percent of the 66,624 dogs and cats received." |
What You Can Do
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What Else You Can Do
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Community Solutions
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Folks, it's not rocket science--we really already know what needs to be done. We need local media to build public awareness of the problem by following the lead of the Houston Chronicle and reporter Bill Murphy, and of KPRC-TV Local 2. We need personal commitment that translates into volunteer time and money. Finally, we need some community leaders with clout who will step up to the plate and push along some major private fund raising efforts while lobbying our public officials to budget funds to meet the following goals:
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Additional Contact Information
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To contact Chronicle: Reader Representative:
James T. Campbell To contact reporter Bill Murphy: bill.murphy@chron.com To contact reporter Salatheia Bryant: salatheia.bryant@chron.com To contact Judge Eckels:
judge_eckels@co.harris.tx.us To contact
Commissioner Steve Radack:
pct3@hctx.net
1001 Preston, Suite 924, Houston, TX 77002 Commissioners Court meets every other Tues. To sign up to speak, call 713-755-5113. Mayor's Office-City of Houston: 713-742-1460 |
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