The Lubbock Animal Shelter on the SE Loop 289 (provided photo)
Stray animals in Lubbock are no foreign sight to those in the city. The Lubbock Animal Shelter, located at 3323 SE Loop 289, is working to help the animals in need by providing the love and care they need while they look for their forever home.
Sam Norman, a Lubbock local of more than 40 years, told the story of a friend finding two dogs abandoned outside of an empty home. His friend took the dogs in and cared for them with the help of the Lubbock Animal Shelter.
Norman said he has noticed animals in need across the city since he has lived here, and it has been part of life for him.
Since the current Lubbock Animal Shelter was built a few years ago, Norman said he has noticed things have gotten much better around the city.
“That tells you a lot about their awareness and the interest in fulfilling the need to take care of animals that are not being taken care of,” he said.
Megan Schroll, the assistant director of Lubbock Animal Services, said when the pandemic first began, the animal shelter closed to the public for 43 days. During that time there was concern over getting animals adopted and out of the shelter.
“In that time, we did doggy drive-throughs,” Schroll said.
Schroll said the idea behind these drive-throughs was to have people with interest in adoption show up, fill out a form, and the staff at the shelter would find the dog or cat they felt would best match their preferences and personalities.
After the shelter opened back up to the public, with occupancy limits to accommodate social distancing, Schroll said they had a pet finder page online which helped people get in and out of the shelter quickly.
Schroll said the pet finder page allowed for people to look through the list of adoptable animals and find which one they were most interested in before coming to the shelter in person.
Schroll said at the start of the pandemic they had about 250 animals in the shelter; at the time of publication, she said they are down to 171 because of how many people have been interested in adoption.
MacKenna Smoot, a sophomore kinesiology major at Texas Tech, adopted her cat from the Lubbock Animal Shelter in September of 2020.
Smoot’s kitten from the shelter, Rowan (provided photo)
Smoot said a primary reason for adopting was, with how much time she was spending at home during the pandemic, she wanted a pet to keep her company as she did her class work from her room.
“I was in my room all the time just doing homework,” Smoot said. “It was nice to have company.”
Schroll said it takes time and care for an animal to begin trusting their new environment and owners and, in time, they will open up and show their real personalities.
Three dogs from the shelter (provided photo)
“We’ve actually had a lot less returns than usual,” Schroll said, “because the animals have more time to spend with their new owners.”
Schroll also said many animals that get returned to shelters are returned within the first 24 hours because new owners do not give the animals time to adjust and become comfortable in their new homes.
Norman spoke about how area citizens have changed as pet owners.
“We’re not just neglectful, I think, as we have been in the past,” Norman said, “we’ve grown in to taking better care of our animals.”
Interested in adopting? Visit the Lubbock Animal Shelter’s website or find them on Facebook.
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