MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — The Pet Circle Regional Animal Center is over capacity, meaning its 103% full as 2024 comes to a close.
“I did make a visit here— it was more of the medical end, on the back end, but I was very satisfied, I was happy with what I saw,” Animal welfare board member Sylvia Campos said.
“Great handling excellent communication skills with the pet owner she spoke with,” Animal welfare board member Carrie Spivey said.
Members of the animal welfare board made a couple of visits to the Pet Circle Regional Animal Center in the last few weeks and walked away with a positive response.
One member said improvements have been made since the city took over the shelter.
“The interaction that I saw has stepped up since the last time I was here, before the switchover, but I know a lot was going on in the back,” Campos said.
In the past year, Pet Circle has adopted out close to 2,000 animals, although this number is lower than in 2023 by about 400 animals.
Looking at animals euthanized, Pet Circle is currently sitting at its highest euthanasia numbers since 2019. With 343 this year so far. Euthanized animals include injured, sick, aggressive court-ordered, and owner-requested euthanasia. The city said this in a statement,
“We are showing a little higher this year than in the past few years, though we are still glad to be below our pre-COVID euthanasia numbers. Looking further into the numbers, our euthanasia for behavior category has seen an increase, however- that is a new category that was added part way through the year in 2023, so the 2023 categories wouldn’t have captured the full year compared to the 2024 category. For reference, behavior includes sub-categories of aggression, non-adoptable behaviors or other behaviors that can’t be rehabilitated, bite quarantine/bite history,”
The number of volunteers has also increased, with 120 people going through orientation since the program started in October.
The City of Waco tells me for the Pet Circle to achieve its no-kill mission, they rely on the community’s support to find homes for the animals in their care.
