By Sarah Hammond
Executive Director
Humane Society of the New Braunfels Area
At the Humane Society of the New Braunfels Area (HSNBA) Inc., we understand that times are tough, and heartbreakingly difficult decisions are being made by pet owners every day.
We also understand that you may have called or emailed us and maybe other shelters and rescues across the area, looking to safely relinquish your dogs, and were told “no” over and over again because every shelter and rescue in Texas is way over capacity.
At HSNBA, we are required to take in every stray picked up in our area, which leaves us no space or resources for pet owners looking to surrender their pets.
These dogs were left in crates in front of our shelter this morning.
We understand you could have simply let these dogs go to fend for themselves, but you left them secured at our shelter.
And yes, abandoning animals is illegal, but right now, that isn’t the point.
The point is, someone was so desperate they didn’t know what else to do.
The point is, despite what some sheltering dashboards may be saying, there is still a very big crisis going on in animal welfare.
While it appears “euthanasia rates are down,” the reality is that intake is down because more and more shelters – mine included – have to say “no” to pet owners in crisis.
When shelters are unable to take in owned pets when their owners are in crisis because they have no space and are constantly worried about their “live outcome rate,” what happens to those animals?
This is what keeps me up at night; this makes me realize that despite the great strides we’ve made in animal welfare, there is still a long way to go and much work to be done.
We are going to do everything in our power to help these dogs abandoned at our shelter this morning, but it’s hard to do that without any information about them.
If you are the one who dropped them off, or recognize them and know their owner, please private message me. Please understand, we know you were desperate, we know you felt you had no other choices, and for that, we are heartbroken too, and you aren’t going to “get in trouble.”
We just need your help to learn as much about these dogs as possible to try to give them the best chance at a new home.
I am not posting to create outrage and to call for flaming pitchforks for these owners.
I am posting to raise awareness that this county is nowhere near “no kill”, and this is a complex issue with no quick and easy fix.
While the community may have “caused” this crisis, the community can solve it if we all come together.
Adopt, foster, volunteer, donate, educate, and for the love of all that is holy, if you feed them, fix them.