In 2017 about 4,000 animals were euthanized. Most were deemed too vicious or ill to put up for adoption and some who were gravely injured.
The OA runs a pet of the week every Sunday. In fact we run two. One is always from the Odessa Animal Control and the other is always from the Humane Society. But those two tiny items can’t make a dent in the seriously overcrowded Odessa Animal Control.
There are beautiful pets there. Bright-eyed kittens anxious to play and dogs and puppies that just need that one shot at a forever home.
Sure, many love a purebred dog. They are awesome and there is no doubt that they are important and loved by their owners. But sweet, little (or big) mutts are also lovable and smart and ready to be your forever friend.
It is so tragic for any animal to be put down for lack of a home. The pound reports that increases in unwanted animals (many spurred by our current oil boom) make it hard to keep up.
Maribel Vasquez, OAC manager, said they folks to come in and adopt.
“We try not to euthanize any animal that can be adoptable but right now we are getting so many animals in on a daily basis it’s just hard to keep up,” Vasquez said.
Now, dogs and cats surrendered by their owners face the threat of being put down on the same day to avoid overcrowding. The amount of adoptions does not relieve the daily intake, which can be about 30 dogs a day.
She said some of the increase in euthanized animals can be explained by better screening practices that led to greater detection of animals brought in suffering from serious illnesses such as parvo.
But Vasquez attributed the spike in animals brought to OAC from the city limits and Ector County to several factors. Others include more people moving to the area because of the oil boom and a tightening housing market. She cited irresponsible pet ownership, including backyard breeding and poor decisions not to spay and neuter pets.
“It’s a community issue that we really need to start working on,” Vasquez said. “We need to change people’s mentality out here in Odessa that animals are not a source of income they are living beings.
”Current pet owners need to be more responsible as well. Spaying and neutering is not expensive and does the animal a world of good.An adoption event is scheduled Saturday at PetSmart.
Won’t you go and take a look and try to find a new furry friend?
We give our thanks to those rescue groups and the OAC workers who are fighting the good fight to find a good home for unwanted animals.
