Dallas Animal Services seeks adoptions, foster families with shelter at 169% capacity

DALLAS – Dallas Animal Services (DAS) is seeing an unusual fall surge in animal surrenders and is urging the community to adopt or foster animals.

There are almost twice as many dogs are in the shelter as there are in the kennels, forcing the shelter to euthanize adoptable pets.

Dallas Animal Services is built for 300 dogs, but now there are 500.

Even puppies, usually the first to go, are waiting for homes.

“I have whole kennels full of 9-week-old puppies ready to leave today,” said Sarah Sheek, the Assistant General Manager of Community Engagement for DAS.

Sheek says as of Tuesday morning they are at 169 percent capacity.

She says what makes the numbers even more concerning is that we are now in October.

“It is very normal in the summer months to see capacity rise, but actually going into October we’re higher than we’ve been all year. This is more dogs than we’ve had in shelter as long as I can remember. Definitely more than we had in the entire summer,” said Sheek.

DAS cannot close intake, so when the shelter is out of space euthanasia is inevitable.

“It is the reality. It is something that nobody here wants to have to do,” said Sheek.

Tami Kukla is a volunteer who is working to find homes for dogs that are in danger of being put down.

“We had 20 on the list yesterday. We were able to save 13, we still had to euthanize 7. We are extremely saddened by that, what can we learn from that so it does not happen tomorrow?” she said.

Kukla advocated for a new page added to the DAS website.

It shows the dogs at risk of euthanasia and lists the reason. For many, that reason is space.

“If we work on each one we end up getting more out,” said Kukla.

Sheek wants people to know even if they can offer only a temporary space for a dog it will help.

“We love short term fosters, if you have 2 weeks, if you have a week,” she said.

Any dog that you adopt saves a life by creating more space.