06/13/2026
I see a lot of people, including animal advocates, complaining about cities and counties having to fund new shelters. Most of the time their complaints go down the "pet overpopulation" rabbit hole and then turn into blaming crappy owners for pets going to the shelters. Why should communities have to build new shelters when "owners" should just be spaying/neutering and taking care of their own pets right?
While the pet overpopulation problem is a big issue that needs tackling, most people fail to recognize the majority of animal shelters in Texas are disgustingly inhumane places with no climate control to prevent pets from freezing in the winter, dying of heat exhaustion in the summer or having appropriate shelter during a storm.
Have you been to your local shelter during the summer to see how miserable the pets are? I know the Bell County Shelter and the Lampasas Shelter in CenTex don't have air conditioning. Pretty sure Gatesville doesn't either. I've seen posts of the shelters in Austin and Bastrop using fans to try and cool pets.
Imagine your sweet, fluffy, senior baby who's enjoyed air conditioning their whole life gets out of the house because the grandbaby opened the door. Or a contractor forgot to latch the gate. Now your pampered pooch gets picked up by a neighbor, taken to the shelter and sits in a 100 degree kennel for hours waiting for you to find them. Some dogs don't survive this.
What I rarely see is anyone interested in improving their local shelter, not just for the dumped pets, but for the average pet that lands there because of unfortunate circumstances. What about the owner who dies? Or is elderly and can't figure out how to find their pet immediately? Or the pet that escapes the petsitter while the family is on vacation halfway across the world?
Did you know the Brady shelter has a bobcat killing small pets in their outdoor kennels because there isn't a building to put the pets in and the kennels are not secure? How is this acceptable? Brady has over 5,000 residents and is known as "The Heart of Texas". The city operates with over a $30 million budget. Where's the heart?
Everyone who has a pet should go down to their local shelter and imagine their own loved animals stuck there. If it's not safe and humane, then contact your city or county officials to do better. Shelters across Texas should be places where people prove they have compassion and empathy, not just for the pet that ends up there, but for the people who love their pets and just need a little help from their community now and then.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated". ~ Mahatma Gandhi
