Chula is a two-year-old female, white/tan, Terrier and American Pit bull mix
She is a 40-pound stray brough in on 11/14/22
(Image taken by Urvi Dalal and information provided by LAS)
By Urvi Dalal, the Hub@TTU
As the cold weather sets in, countless pets abandoned by their owners roam the streets of Lubbock, forcing local shelters and animal lovers to take in more than they can.
Lubbock Animal Shelter & Adoption Center (LAS) currently has 397 animals in its care—two and a half times more than the shelter’s capacity of 150. About 97 percent are dogs.
Tyra Marks, an educational psychology major at Texas Tech, said the dogs’ living conditions at the shelter are horrible.
“I almost started crying,” she said. “Many of the pens had more than one dog, and they were sleeping on the cold, hard concrete, even in the winter. The dogs were sitting in their own feces, and the smell was atrocious.”
Marks said people don’t realize the extent of the problem until they walk into the shelter themselves. She was taken aback when first stepping into the dog kennel area at LAS.
“The situation at LAS is so heartbreaking,” Marks said. “it’s brutal. If you have a soft spot in your heart for dogs, you can’t stay in there for more than five minutes.”
About 70 million animals are homeless across the country at any given time, and every year about 6.5 million enter animal shelters, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a national advocacy group. Lubbock has more than a dozen animal rescue organizations, mostly nonprofits, serving over 250,000 residents and a constant overpopulation of animals.
Draculaura is a one-year-old female, black, Terrier and Pit bull mix
She is a 30-pound stray brought in on 11/16/22. (Image taken by Urvi Dalal and information provided by LAS)
The high number of dogs at the LAS is because Lubbock has a lease law for dogs but not for cats, said Megan Gray, the shelter’s assistant director. Because of overpopulation, dogs don’t always have their own pens and are not always attended to in a timely manner. The shelter’s staff and medical supplies also come short at times.
More than 50 animals have already been euthanized in 2022 at LAS.
Gray said the shelter needs donations of any kind, especially puppy training pads and newspapers. Also needed are volunteers to help at the shelter or take pets on “doggie day out,” which allows the dogs to escape the smell and noise for a few hours.
Each day at LAS starts with an intake of animals. Vaccines, dewormers and flea and tick treatments are administered. Next, a kennel technician cleans and fills over 350 bowls of food. The kennels are cleaned daily to ensure animals are not living in their own waste.
Many local residents adopt or foster animals off the street, without ever sending them to a shelter.
Carolina Perez, a graduate student at Texas Tech, did not intend to adopt a second dog this summer, but she ended up doing so anyway. He showed up at her home while she was taking out the trash.
Tess is a 1.5-year-old female, white/brown, Pointer mix
She is a 47-pound stray brought in on 11/16/22 (Image taken by Urvi Dalal and information provided by LAS)
“He kind of happened upon us,” Perez said.
Perez and her significant other were not planning on keeping the dog due to a lack of time and financial means.
“We called every [shelter] in Lubbock and nearby areas, and nobody was willing to take him in because they were at capacity,” Perez said.
The couple reached out to their community on Nextdoor and other online platforms. Unfortunately, nobody claimed the then-stray puppy. A lack of responses, coupled with overcrowding in shelters, led them to rethink their choice.
Letty is a two-year-old female, brindle/brown, Terrier and Pit bull mix. She is a 50-pound stray brought in on 11/15/22 (Image taken by Urvi Dalal and information provided by LAS)
Soon after, Perez and her husband were notified of an unexpected increase in their stipends, which they took as a sign that they made the right decision.
“Now he’s ours,” Perez said. “People who abandon dogs are disgracing a life. There are other options than outright abandoning a helpless dog, so have compassion.”
Gray said LAS wants to emphasize the need for sensible pet ownership.
“We need people to restrain their animals, vaccinate them, spay/neuter and microchip them, so we can lower the stray population as a whole and so the animals are being well taken care of,” she said.
Nine animal control officers, two still in training, respond to stray animal calls in Lubbock. The city is looking to fill two more positions.
Sallie Morris, co-founder of the Morris Safe House, said the overpopulation is not a dog problem, it’s a people problem.
“In 15 years, I’ve never seen it this bad,” she said. “A single female and her offspring can produce up to 150 dogs a year. Multiply that by 500, and that is what we are dealing with right now.”
The LAS holds regular adoption fairs, often drops the adoption fees and offers various incentives. New pet parents who adopt from the shelter currently receive a $10 certificate to Pets Plus and a free one-day coupon for daycare, boarding and spa at WagBNB.
Morris said the safe house has never dealt with a crisis like this. This year alone, she has turned down between 1,100 and 1,200 dogs.
A few years ago, the Morris Safe House altered its intake requirements to dogs 20 pounds or less. As a result, the nonprofit is not at full capacity but turns down between five and 71 large-breed dogs each day.
Holly is a three-year-old black and white, Great Dane and Pit bull mix. She loves to go outside in the summer and play in the pool. (Image taken by Urvi Dalal and descriptions were provided by Sallie Morris of Morris Safe House)
“We see a ton of pits,” Morris said. “Last Thursday, I turned down 16 pit bulls, three German shepherds and one Doberman.”
Most dogs at the LAS and other local shelters are pit bulls and pit bull mixes—one of the least adopted and most abused dog breeds across the country, according to PETA.
“[Dogs] are not getting a fair shake in Lubbock,” Morris said. “They’re being picked up and euthanized two days later.”
Marks adopted a black pit bull named Bentley from the Haven Animal Care Shelter in 2018 after seeing rows of dogs without a home, lying in the dirt.
“Pit bulls get a really bad rap, and that is one of the main reasons I decided to adopt her,” Marks said. “Black pit bulls are the least likely to get adopted. If I hadn’t adopted Bentley, there is a huge possibility that she’d still be there today.”
Marks said her pit bull is anything but aggressive. Upon taking Bentley home, Marks discovered she was afraid of everything.
“All the pit bulls I have met are some of the sweetest dogs,” Marks said. “It’s all about how you raise them.”
She advises everyone to consider adopting or fostering but only if they are willing to put in the work that is needed.
Dean is a ~8-month-old male, white, shepherd mix He is a 24-pound dog who was brought into the shelter on 11/16/22 via owner surrender. (Image taken by Urvi Dalal and information provided by LAS)
“It’s a super rewarding experience because most of the dogs there have never had anybody that gives them unconditional love,” Marks said. “There are so many dogs that get dropped off … and stay at the Haven until they die, just seeing people walk past.”
Stormy Day is a one-year-old Terrier. He is full of energy and very active. He loves, walks, toys and treats. (Image taken by Urvi Dalal and descriptions were provided by Sallie Morris of Morris Safe House)
Although there are fewer cats than dogs in local shelters, homeless felines are abundant in the streets of Lubbock. Kat Livingston, known as “Kat the cat lady,” co-founded a nonprofit called Kat’s Alley Cats in 2018 to address the issue. She also advises the Tech Feral Cat Coalition.
“I began to trap, neuter and return cats out-of-pocket, and it quickly turned into a passion,” Livingston said. “There are about 400 cats on our waitlist.”
The organization currently has 15 volunteers.
“We are a teeny, tiny organization,” Livingston said. “We are tiny but mighty.”
The cats are captured by using humane traps. Once retrieved, the cats are taken to a clinic where they get fixed, receive vaccinations and microchips, and get their ear tipped to show they have already been spayed or neutered. Then, the cats are returned to their original location.
Livingston said many people incorrectly assume that relocating or removing cats will solve the problem. Instead, it creates a vacuum effect that allows new, unfixed cats to move into that territory and take advantage of the resources that were left behind by the old colony.
“Returning cats to their original location is one of the most important parts of the whole process,” she said.
Tech Feral Cat Coalition also traps, neuters and returns cats around the Texas Tech campus. Lauren Myatt, the organization’s president, said she and other volunteers follow the same process as Kat’s Alley Cats.
Princess is a two-year-old Chihuahua. She is the party anywhere she goes.(Image taken by Urvi Dalal and descriptions were provided by Sallie Morris of Morris Safe House)
Most cats they trap are feral and run away from people, but they are not aggressive, Myatt said. Tame cats, once they are fixed and vaccinated, are sent to foster homes.
The Tech Feral Cat Coalition has placed six feeding stations replenished every two weeks around campus. Additionally, a winter shelter is built in an insulated cardboard box, providing cats with a place to go when it’s cold.
Before breaks and semester finals, the Tech campus sees an influx of abandoned animals. Myatt herself trapped 12 cats in the summer.
“A lot of students tend to dump their cats at the end of the semester,” Myatt said. “In the summer, when our funds run low, we pay for a lot of the cat food by ourselves.”
Operations Division at Tech pays for the spay or neuter surgeries and vaccinations. If a cat needs something else, like a leg amputation, this becomes an organizational or personal expense.
Harley is a three-year-old shih-tzu who loves walks and playing with toys. He was severely abused and beaten. It took Morris Safe House four months to even touch him and begin to gain his trust. (Image taken by Urvi Dalal and descriptions were provided by Sallie Morris of Morris Safe House)
The Tech campus’ feral cat problem is down to a minimum, largely due to the trap-neuter-return program, but the city is still overpopulated with stray cats.
Livingston said many people don’t know about the trap-neuter-release program and don’t reach out until the problem has become overwhelming – for example, they had a colony that started out as two cats six months ago, and now there are 40. Her advice: don’t wait.
According to the Humane Society, in addition to donations, this work is possible because some vets donate their time and provide medications at a discounted cost.
“We would not exist without our vet and clinic partners,” Livingston said. “They are the heart of what we do.”
Kind-hearted people who cannot adopt an animal can still help by taking in pets temporarily to alleviate overcrowding at local shelters and help them adjust before they go to their forever home.
Livingston said fostering is the most rewarding thing one can do, and many do it repeatedly “to fill that hole in your heart” left after an animal goes to a forever home. Foster parents have more leeway than adoptive parents.
“If you decide it’s not for you and return the animal, then no harm no foul,” Myatt said. Adopting, on the other hand, should be a very big decision.
Princess is a two-year-old Chihuahua. She is the party anywhere she goes.(Image taken by Urvi Dalal and descriptions were provided by Sallie Morris of Morris Safe House)
“I would tell people to really sit on the idea and make sure that they do have the time and the money to afford the pet and give it the attention it needs,” Myatt said.
For more information on adoption events, fundraisers and volunteering opportunities, visit Kat’s Alley Cats, Tech Feral Cat Coalition, and the LAS website.
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