S.P.C.A. of Texas helping cats and dogs live their best lives

Transcript

Marshall Hinsley:
In this episode of Waxahachie 360, we’ll talk about the S.P.C.A. of Texas Ellis County Animal Care Center; why shelters everywhere are running at capacity and how we can help the dogs and cats in the shelter find a home and live their best lives.

I’m Marshall Hinsley.

In the summer of 2020, the S.P.C.A. of Texas took over the shelter run by the unaffiliated, and now disbanded Ellis County S.P.C.A. Under this new management, the shelter was shut down, renovated, and then reopened as the S.P.C.A. of Texas Ellis County Animal Care Center. The shelter is the contracted destination for the dogs and cats seized by various local animal control officers.

Maura Davies is vice-president of marketing and communications for the S.P.C.A. of Texas.

Maura, tell me what the S.P.C.A. of Texas is and what it’s doing in Ellis County.

Maura Davies:
Sure thing. The S.P.C.A. of Texas is an organization that is based right here in North Texas. We have been here since 1938. We’ve had different names over the years. Our current name S.P.C.A. of Texas was chosen by our board of directors in the mid- to late-90s.

We are able to help statewide in certain areas for example, forensic support for law enforcement. However, the vast majority of our programs and services are directed right here in North Texas, specifically Ellis County, Dallas County — some of the counties to the east : Van Zandt, Hunt, a few others.

We’d certainly assist in other areas, but that’s the core of who we are and it’s always, I think, important to talk about who we are not. We are not affiliated with any other S.P.C.A. or Humane Society. It’s actually a very common misconception that we’re all connected, but we’re not.

So people make wonderful gifts to various different shelters, but it’s important if you are making a financial donation, if you are wanting your donation to stay right here in North Texas, in Ellis County, the S.P.C.A. of Texas — we have our wonderful shelter, the S.P.C.A. of Texas, Ellis County Animal Care Center in Waxahachie.

And when you make a gift to the S.P.C.A. of Texas, either a monetary gift or a donation of your time, perhaps, that goes to help the animals in our community.

Marshall Hinsley:
Very good. What does the Center in Waxahachie do? What are all of its functions in the county?

Maura Davies:
Sure, sure thing. So the Ellis County Animal Care Center serves two main purposes. One of those is to take in stray animals. We have a number of contracts with municipalities around Ellis County and we bring in stray animals. We hold them for that state-mandated hold period; that is three days — is the state mandated length of time. During that time, we actually go to a lot of work and effort to network and find homes for these little sweeties. We, of course, we scan for microchips. We will put them on our website. We put them on Facebook, asking people, Hey, do you recognize this dog?

Our goal is to reunite as many pets as we possibly can. So, that’s one big part of what we do. Another big part is for animals who are truly homeless, no one claims them. Our goal is to get them into — to adopt them out, into loving new homes. We have a lot of wonderful plans in the future; that is the core of what we do right now.

Marshall Hinsley:
And about how many animals come through that center each month?

Maura Davies:
Oh goodness. I’m trying to remember exactly the amount. Bear with me while I look something up really quickly. While I’m looking, I’m just talking through the — there it is. We overall as an organization I can certainly speak a little bit to that and then focus in here.

We have in all of our shelter systems, anywhere between 800 and a thousand animals at any given time: mainly dogs and cats. That could also include other animals, small mammals, livestock, horses, for example,

Last year, the entirety of the year, just over 4,200 animals entered the shelter.

And let’s see, looking at Ellis County right now, we currently have 42 animals at the Ellis County Animal Care Center. And so we may see somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred to 200 animals come in. Some of those guys to be fair, do get transferred — after any stray hold is up — do get transferred to our other shelter that is in West Dallas for adoption.

Marshall Hinsley:
How are these intakes arranged? Does the organization do any field work, or where do these animals come from?

Maura Davies:
The animals mainly come in through field work, through animal control officers, animal care and control officers, in the municipalities that we have contracts [with].

Marshall Hinsley:
You are contracted with the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office.

Maura Davies:
The Ellis County Sheriff’s Office — yes, indeed. They are so wonderful. I cannot tell you how fabulous it is to work with the sheriff’s office. Brad Elliot, Sergeant Brad Elliot is — his whole team — I appreciate them to the moon and back.

Marshall Hinsley:
What is the state of dogs and cats in the county or in the country in terms of overpopulation and the need of shelters?

Maura Davies:
Right now, different from even two, three years ago, the entire world of animal care, all the shelters across the country — it doesn’t matter what state, county, city you’re in, every shelter that I’ve talked to — is experiencing very different situations this year with the animals in care.

What has happened basically over the course of the pandemic is right at the beginning of the pandemic, a ton of people went out and adopted, and became fosters. But, shelters had to modify their operations so significantly, and a lot of us did do drive up adoptions where we made appointments and everyone was wearing masks and we social distanced and people would roll up in their car; we would introduce them; we would go through the adoption process that way, literally standing outside — standing more than six feet away with masks on trying to do the best we could to be safe and yet still adopt out animals. Over the course of the pandemic, that changed a bit. Then of course, with inflation, with economic situations being what they are right now, people have cut back in lots of areas.

It’s a pretty complicated picture. But according to Best Friends Animal Society they estimate that they’re about a hundred thousand more dogs and cats in shelters, waiting for homes than even a year ago because of everything I just talked about. That’s about 60,000 more dogs and 40,000 more cats.

What best friends concluded after conducting a survey of more than 150 shelters, animal organizations: There were also a lot of staffing issues reported: 88% of those surveyed were short on staffing; 57% had to cut hours or programs due to that short staffing; 41% of those organizations were operating at a 25% of normal staffing levels; and 62% were operating more than 10% below normal staffing levels.

This is again, talking about last year and this year, there have been some kind of rumors that have gone around the media over the last couple — three years. Those include, Oh, there’s just a rush of people bringing animals back to shelters. They’re all surrendering animals and droves.

Well, I’m looking at our numbers and our return rate is just about the same as it was. — maybe around six to 8% on average. Usually, our return rate has been pretty similar before the pandemic; after — I hate to say after — but right now we’re just not seeing people surrendering animals in droves.

What we are seeing is a massive slowdown in adoptions. So, a lot fewer people are coming out to adopt. So, what all this leads to is animal shelters trying to figure out how we approach this situation. So, it’s going to take a village, as they say. Spaying and neutering is going to be a huge part of it — will continue to be a huge part of animal overpopulation, whether it’s in a shelter or out of a shelter.

And shelters [need to be] really focusing their efforts on not only attending to things like animal cruelty and animal care, but also keeping animals in homes. So, as the S.P.C.A. of Texas has gone through our most recent strategic planning process, three of our main pillars are preventing and prosecuting animal cruelty, caring for rescued animals, and keeping pets in homes.

So, that covers a really wide range of programs and services. So, our animal cruelty investigations unit is more important than ever out there, rescuing animals from cruelty and abuse. That will continue to be a huge priority for the S.P.C.A. of Texas. The care of the animals here in our shelters will always be a huge priority; returning animals that are stray, as much as we can, getting as many out adopted as we can, and that takes people saying, Oh, wait. We know where you are. Let’s come help. Let’s come adopt. Let’s come volunteer. These are all such important things to do, but also keeping pets in homes is huge, and that’s why it’s important to make that care as affordable as we can.

So it’s a big, broad picture and a complicated subject, but I appreciate the opportunity to say all of that because these kinds of rumors are swirling: the animal shelters are just fine and you know that it’s people that return the animals. It’s such a different picture. So, the main point here is that people can help by adopting.

If now’s the right time, please come adopt. The Ellis County Animal Care Center is right here, right in the community. We’re here for the community and we’re here because of the community. And, we’re here for you to come volunteer, be a foster, make a financial donation if you are so moved.

And like I said, We’re here for the community because of the community and it’s an important part of any community, being healthy and happy. Having an animal sheltering component that is a partner.

Marshall Hinsley:
What is the euthanasia policy of these animals? Does the organization have a no-kill policy or does it have to occasionally use euthanasia to make room for intakes? What is the situation?

Maura Davies:
That’s an important question. So, The S.P.C.A. of Texas does not euthanize for time or space. So, we do not euthanize the animal to make room for another. We do euthanize an animal if their health or behavior makes it such that they just are not going to be able to have any quality of life in a home in the future.

We try to do everything possible before we get to that point. We have some fabulous programs in place, some of which people can absolutely volunteer to become a part of. One of those is our foster program. Another is our fospice program. And just to touch on that fospice program, animals who may have a terminal illness, if they have a tumor that’s cancerous and they can still have a quality of life and whether we can remove the tumor, do that surgery, but the likelihood of them being able to go on and live a very long life somewhere is, perhaps, not as great. We are able to place that particular animal, whether it’s, again, like I said, a terminal illness, they’re incredibly elderly, et cetera, into a foster home where they can live out the rest of their life as long as they have that quality of life.

The S.P.C.A. of Texas provides all of the resources for that fospice family, for that animal — so everything from bedding, toys, medical care, food, to everything. So, that’s a fabulous program — again, one more way that the S.P.C.A. of Texas is making every effort to make sure that happy healthy animals are in homes, even if that’s a fospice home.

Marshall Hinsley:
What range of conditions would an animal in the fospice program have?

Maura Davies:
Yeah, it could be anything from behavioral to physical. Some examples would include a 19 year-old cat, say who was still, up and at ’em in the morning and eating well and it is still doing well in that way as best it can. Another example would be, like I mentioned, cancer. On the behavior side of things, it could be an animal who is just really — maybe they’ve been in that foster home for a while and they’re not gonna do as well in the shelter. A shelter should be a temporary waystop. We are not a sanctuary. And the animals who may be in fospice for behavior, it could be they just really are doing well in that home and there may not be any other home out there.

Does that make sense?

Marshall Hinsley:
Sure.

Then tell me a little more about the foster program. How does that help to alleviate the animal overpopulation issue.

Maura Davies:
Definitely. Our our foster program continues to grow and last year our team of foster volunteers fostered over a thousand animals. Right now, our current number of animals in foster, like this minute is 287. So, over time, that’s grown. Two, three years ago, that number was maybe 150, and we’re always looking to recruit foster volunteers.

So, what you do as an S.P.C.A. of Texas foster, and definitely I speak from experience, we have a list of animals who are available for foster. I can get into the different kinds of fosters. There’s a couple of different kinds of fosters out there, so let’s talk about the fosters who are there. The whole point is they’re going to be fostered.

They might be fostered because it’s a mom with nursing babies, or an animal needs a break from the shelter over the weekend. Someone can do a very short term foster. We have foster babysitters. So, if there’s a person who’s going to foster an animal for a longer period of time and they need to go out of town, we’ll ask our other fosters, Hey, could you babysit this foster for two or three days?

There are fosters that help when an animal say, has gone through surgery — if an animal has has had a limb removed. This happens more often than you think, unfortunately, and sadly, and they need a foster home to go to, to heal from their injuries, and from any injuries, maybe if they’re a rescued animal, where they just need to heal in a home, or like I said, if they have had a limb removed because there was no way to save it; they can recover there, and foster families can help them learn to walk again. So, it really covers a very wide range — could be a, a medical situation — we’re able to treat a lot of medical situations in the shelter. Things like upper respiratory, parvo, distemper, ringworm, et cetera, we treat in the shelter. These are not reasons that we euthanize. So, foster homes are a critical part of expanding our ability to care for animals, so those animals are not out there in the community in danger of being hit by a car, eaten by wildlife or abused by bad acting people, et cetera.

So, we always are looking for folks out there to become fosters. And that’s easy to do from our website. It’s just spca.org. People can go there, sign up. We have a wonderful team. They train you. And, when you do become a foster, again, the S.P.C.A. of Texas provides all you need to care for your foster animal: food, bedding toys, any medication, all of the above- we’re here to provide.

Marshall Hinsley:
So you’re telling me, just to be clear, when you become a foster and you have all the benefits of having this dog or this cat in your life, but because it’s through the program, there really isn’t any financial commitment.

Maura Davies:
Correct.

Marshall Hinsley:
How does that help overall the animals in the shelter? What does this do for the animal in terms of avoiding the shelter trauma or fatigue that can happen?

Maura Davies:
You know, it can be extremely important. And there are some animals who have been in foster homes for a very long time. That may be because they just do not do well in the shelter and we are looking for homes for them without being in the shelter. So that type of foster we call an adoption ambassador where they foster the animal and then they help find that dog or cat his or her new home.

So, that may involve like sharing photos or videos online, talking to friends and family. And it also helps animals who are in the shelter and that shelter environment is just not a good place for them. Like I mentioned, we can have the most lovely shelters in existence, and it’s not the same as a home.

So, whether it’s an animal who, if they’ve been here and they’ve been on the adoption floor and they just might need a break for a couple of days or even an afternoon, some of our volunteers can come in. We have a group of folks who will come in and get with our foster team and take a group of dogs out for hikes, just for the afternoon, or it could be for a weekend, or it could be for a week or a month really — whatever that person is able to do to help out with any of the particular animals that are looking for this help. And that’s all. In addition to that, I talked about that healing — fosters that need healing and fospice.

It helps the animals; it helps mainly dogs. The cats seem to be pretty chill overall. We have a lot of wonderful environments for them here, but if you, for example, have a puppy and they’re in a kennel, that puppy wants to get out; they want to play; they have that socialization, those needs. We do so much here in our shelters to provide for animals’ behavioral needs, as well as their physical needs.

This is a good time to bring up our behavior team. We have a team of professionals whose focus is on making sure the animals’ brains are stimulated while they’re with us. So, every day the animals get a certain number of walks depending on what their needs are behaviorally, physically. We have a wide variety of enrichment activities for dogs — everything from certain smells like lavender, for example, or puzzle boxes. Volunteers actually and staff get together and put together these puzzle boxes. They can be made out of shoe boxes and crumpled up paper and treats sprinkled in.

So, the dog has to use its brain to figure out how to get all the treats. [It] works for cats too. And so much more. I feel like I’m only scratching the surface of what our behavior team does for the animals in our care. Each animal has a comprehensive behavior plan specific to their needs while they’re in the shelter.

I can tell you 20 years ago, sheltering was completely different.: you put a dog in a kennel, fostering was maybe here and there. And, the difference from 20 years ago to today from that, Yeah. A dog is gonna be in a kennel as long as it takes, or maybe not in some shelters, to find a home.

And to compare to today where you have individual animal care provided for that unique animal. The difference is night and day. I used to see 20 years ago dogs jumping up and down in kennels, spinning in circles, basically going crazy. I don’t see that today, not here.

Marshall Hinsley:
What kind of person makes a good foster?

Maura Davies:
Oh goodness. Do you love dogs? Do you love cats? Do you have patience? And, do you have a little bit of time? That’s pretty much it. Everything is covered from food to medicine and it really — we call them foster heroes. The person provides the love and a place — a soft place to land, a home for a little while, and it makes space for other animals.

Marshall Hinsley:
So whether a person’s going to become a foster or wants to adopt through the Ellis County Animal Care Center, what’s the next step?

Maura Davies:
Sure the next step is easy to do 24-7 — check out our website, spca.org. There you can go to About US, locations. You can just hit that search button. If you’re not familiar with the location, we have the map that’s right there on our location. Just look for that Ellis County Animal Care Center.

We’re at 2570 FM Road 8 78 in Waxahachie. We’re open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 6:00 PM; people can just walk right in. No appointment [are] needed. You can first, though, look on our website to see what animals are available at the Ellis County Animal Care Center. Once you’re at that location, there’s a link that takes you right over to see adoptable animals. And you can browse online at your convenience.

Marshall Hinsley:
Many people are familiar with that location as being the Ellis County S.P.C.A.. Can you tell me a little bit more about the S.P.C.A. of Texas’s taking over the facility and what it’s done.

Maura Davies:
The S.P.C.A. of Texas has managed the shelter since July 1st, 2020, and the estimate back in 2020 is that we would provide animal sheltering and then returns to owner of stray animals that came in our adoptions for about 1,500 animals. It’s been a bit more than that which is fine.

Marshall Hinsley:
1,500 per year?

Maura Davies:
Per year — that was the initial estimate, but it’s been more in the territory of closer to 2,000, perhaps, or a little over 2000 a year. We are looking forward to adding services. We recently had one vaccine clinic in conjunction with the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office that was incredibly successful, and we want to build on that success. It was at the Ellis County Expo Center, and. we provided vaccines and I believe microchips for, gosh — it was about 300 animals — a lot. So, the need is there. And so we were planning on setting up more events like this in the future.

I know the sheriff’s office is really excited about that too. Microchipping is so important because if we get an animal in the shelter, we can scan that microchip, call the person and get that animal right back to their family where they need to be, and they don’t need to sit in the shelter.

Marshall Hinsley:
What was the relationship between the Ellis County S.P.C.A. and the S.P.C.A. of Texas, and how did the S.P.C.A. a of Texas take over that shelter?

Maura Davies:
Prior to 2020, when the S.P.C.A. of Texas took over operation of the then Ellis County S.P.C.A., now the Ellis County Animal Care Center — the S.P.C.A. of Texas Ellis County Animal Care Center — we had alternately either served as an ad advisor, especially as we were transitioning over to assuming operations of the facility.

But I know that we had been called out to look at conditions in the shelter prior to that. I know there’s a lot of information; a lot of people are going to have a long memory about that.

When we took operation of the building, we renovated the entire space — everything from the walls to the floor, to the kennels, to the H.V.A.C. systems.

Everything was renovated, modernized, and staffed with some people from the area — people from nearby — people who started driving down. I’m actually wondering — I’m going to check on this. I wonder if anyone’s actually moved nearby.

But anyway, we’re so pleased to be a part of Ellis County and offer these services. We know that they’re very needed.

Marshall Hinsley:
What improvements would someone notice who maybe had gone to the facility before? What would they see now with the renovations?

Maura Davies:
Well, it’s a lot more than the sign on the outside of the building. Besides that change in sign, it would look pretty similar, but when you get inside, it would be night and day. Everything has been renovated, like I said, from the walls to the floor, to the everything.

Marshall Hinsley:
And what has been the overall principle in those renovations? What is it that has been attempted to be done?

Maura Davies:
The main importance of all those renovations was to provide animals a place to be in the shelter where they were going to receive exceptional care so that we could work to find them loving homes. That is our mission at the S.P.C.A. of Texas, and that is what we bring and have brought. So, we want to make sure animals have a comfortable place where our staff can provide the best in care until the animals are either returned to their owners or adopted.

Marshall Hinsley:
What have we not really talked about that someone needs to know about the Ellis County Animal Care Center or the S.P.C.A. of Texas, or just the general cat, dog and or small mammal issues in the county?

Maura Davies:
A couple of things, perhaps. One is super quick. People may be curious about what’s included in an adoption and how much adoptions are. Some people even ask us, can they take their new pet home the same day? Yes. Absolutely. That’s the goal.

So in terms of adoption fees puppies and kittens ages until they’re six months old, the adoption fee is $150 and adults, dogs and cats over six months are $75 to adopt.

However, we have had an adoption special that has gone on for quite some. Currently and for probably for a significant time in the future adoptions for adult dogs and cats have been $25 each. So, with that there are a number of resources that come with that adoption. Every animal that’s adopted from the S.P.C.A. of Texas is spayed or neutered. They receive age appropriate vaccines. They’ve received those physical exams, health evaluations, behavior assessments so as much as we know about each animal, we share with their potential new owner. They’re all microchipped. They’ve received flea and tick treatments, deworming as needed.

For dogs, we do a heartworm test and we give them heartworm preventive while they’re in the shelter. Animals do receive a free health exam within 14 days of adoption thanks to our partners, V.C.A. Animal Hospitals, and they get a starter bag of food thanks to Health Science Siet.

Of course we have a temporary carrier for cats and a temporary leash for dogs. We also have merchandise that’s at a quite a low price. So, if you’re looking for a leash or a collar, you can also purchase that. And we’re here to support people after the adoption too. Anytime someone has a question or a concern, they can always reach out to us. We will be here. With any animal that’s an alum of the S.P.C.A. of Texas, we are here before, during, and after.

Marshall Hinsley:
People would generally see $150 fee for adoption as very steep. But do you happen to know what the value is of the services that come with that animal?

Maura Davies:
The best way I can put it is we spend an average of over a thousand dollars on each animal that comes through our door. So whether that’s the vaccinations, spay and neuter, flea and tick [treatment], daily care, food — all of that would be well over a thousand dollars — glad you asked.

Marshall Hinsley:
I recently took in a stray female cat, and she needed to be spayed, and the cheapest place I could find in Ellis County spayed her for around $180 to $200. So that right there already exceeds the $150 adoption fee. But then that adoption fee also covers the vaccinations because vaccinations for this cat all came out to about another $50, $60 something dollars.

And so just this one stray cat being spayed and vaccinated was $200 and very close to $300 once she was dewormed and everything. So, in view of that, the $150 adoption fee is even a bargain — even more so if it’s reduced to $25.

Maura Davies:
Yes, absolutely. For the adult dogs, of course, and then to be absolutely fair, puppies and kittens may not have received all of their series of vaccines with us, and if not, we are very clear about here is their schedule. Here’s what you can do. Here’s some suggestions for nearby clinics. Et cetera, and all the more reason for us to be planning these events in the future where we are bringing vaccines and microchips to the community.

Marshall Hinsley:
And if a person wants to volunteer, what kind of things can a person do?

Maura Davies:
Oh gosh. We’d love for people to sign up and volunteer. That would be amazing. It’s really easy to do. So just go to spca.org/volunteer. There is a very easy little application to fill out. We invite folks who are 15 and older to submit an application and for younger kiddos, 10 to 14, they can also volunteer with a guardian or parent, and they have certain roles that they can fill in the shelter. But if you’re 15 and older, you can submit an application online, either work with a parent or solo with friends. We love it when groups of friends volunteer together — that’s fabulous. So, we contact the person; we set up an orientation. We have some online portions, in-person portions. And our volunteer team goes to work supporting that person, getting them all the training they need to do everything from walk dogs, provide enrichment activities for dogs, cats, bathing.

There’s less exciting stuff like paperwork. Always, people can volunteer at events. One thing that I love to do if I’m volunteering is go to an event and hold a dog or be there to help talk to people about why each individual animal is so wonderful. So, our volunteers do so much, and so like we talked about, fostering — you can become a foster. Even if you can’t come to the shelter, there’s a lot you can do.

So, our volunteers are our lifeblood. We also accept court ordered community service. That’s all on our website, spca.org/volunteer.

Marshall Hinsley:
Thank you Maura.

Maura Davies:
Of course. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you very much, Marshall.

Marshall Hinsley:
Thanks for listening. You can find out more about the S.P.C.A. of Texas and things that are happening in and around Waxahachie by visiting Waxahachie360.com.