BRYAN, Texas — The Bryan Animal Center is in a state of desperation right now, low on adoptions and high on animal intake – especially dogs. They need the community's help to foster or adopt.
The shelter is currently between 15 and 20 dogs over its capacity, according to staff, forced to fit as many as three dogs in a single kennel.
Last year, the shelter did have to euthanize two dogs due to a lack of space.
“(It was) just because we were over capacity," said Ashley Rodriguez, animal services supervisor for the city of Bryan.
"Some dogs were staying here too long, unfortunately. It’s just unfortunate that we have to do that at times. We don’t like to do that. It takes a huge burden on the staff to do stuff like that.”
While they’re not quite to that point yet, if more people don’t step forward to foster or adopt, some difficult decisions may need to be made.
Shelter staff says that there’s recently been a heavy intake of strays off the streets by animal control officers, and very few adoptions.
“Overall in the state of Texas we’re just at this point where we were at pre-COVID," said Rodriguez. "We are a state with a lot of issues of over-population. So it’s just kind of us getting back to where we were pre-COVID-19.”
Rodriguez noted that small-breed dogs and puppies get picked up more quickly by adopters. It’s the larger, older dogs that are more at risk of being left behind.
Right now the shelter’s cat population is not excessive, but there are plenty of kittens and adult cats still waiting to be taken home.
Rodriguez encourages anyone who finds a stray dog to reach out through the neighborhood, as many strays may not be far from home.
This past year Bryan's animal control team was able to reunite 700 dogs with their families, without having to intake those dogs at the Animal Center.
Rodriguez said the shelter offers microchipping and spay/neuter vouchers for pet owners hoping to secure their animal's wellbeing.
If you’d like to foster or adopt an animal from the Bryan Animal Center, you can visit the shelter’s website for a list of dogs and cats ready to go to good homes.