The summer heat may not have hit the area, but the dog days definitely have arrived for one local animal shelter.
The Humane Society of the New Braunfels Area is in what’s being called “crisis mode” after taking in more than 60 surrendered dogs in recent days.
“We really got slammed last week. We were already at capacity. We did not have any empty kennels,” said Executive Director Sarah Hammond.
In one case, Hammond said 56 chihuahuas flooded the shelter at once after their owner was incarcerated.
This week, she said, a dozen more dogs arrived when their owner was admitted to a hospital.
Hammond said she had no choice but to make room for the 68 newcomers in a space designed to handle just over 50 dogs.
That is on top of the animals that were already there, waiting to be adopted, she said.
“We’ve got to get creative when we get into crisis mode,” she said. “Thank heaven they were all small dogs. Had they been shepherds or huskies or pit bulls or labs, I honestly, I don’t know what we would’ve done.”
Since taking them in, Hammond said she has managed to place some of the chihuahuas in rescue facilities.
About a dozen or so others are being kept at the Humane Society’s facility, occupying a building where surgeries are conducted.
Still, she said the accommodations are not ideal for the number of dogs that remain.
On Thursday morning, she pointed out one pet occupying what had been an office, while others were being kept in cages lining a hallway.
The goal, Hammond said, is to get as many as possible of those dogs in the shelter placed in at least temporary homes.
“At the end of the day, if there are not enough adopters, we’ve got to make those decisions on the dogs who are less adoptable,” Hammond said.
She said euthanizing any animal is the last thing she would want to do.
To prevent that from becoming a reality, Hammond said that Humane Society location is holding a series of adoption clinics through Saturday, offering waived fees.
The clinics will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The Humane Society of the New Braunfels Area is located at 3353 Morningside Drive.
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