'IT'S PRETTY UNPRECEDENTED': Regional animal shelter faces high capacity over past 9 months

The San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter is looking for creative solutions after nine months of capacity constraints.

Shelter overcapacity on dogs has hovered at about 150 to 160% since March, according to SMRAS Manager Christie Banduch. And, as of Dec. 28, SMRAS had 161 dog intakes and only 93 kennels.

The imbalance between adoptions and intakes is taking its toll on shelter employees, according to Banduch, who called this year a “revolving door of tragedy.”

“It’s pretty unprecedented for us to be this full and to stay this full,” Banduch said. “This is the first time in the almost three years I’ve been here where we’ve had to resort to creatively housing dogs.”

SMRAS isn’t the only shelter facing capacity issues right now.

According to the Shelter Animals Count Q1 2022 Analysis, a dataset comprised of 830 organization locations, gross intakes of dogs increased by 8.3% from Q1 2021 to Q1 2022, and gross intakes of cats and dogs increased by 6.9%.

“Everybody’s kind of looking at their data right now to figure out what exactly is happening and what some possible solutions to it are,” Banduch said.

According to Banduch, intake and adoption rates have been in flux for some time.

“It’s not that we’re seeing significantly more intakes or significantly fewer outcomes. It’s the cadence they’re coming and going at,” Banduch said. “Where normally, as they’re coming in, they’re also leaving, we’re having pretty lengthy sections where we’re not having a whole lot of outcomes. Rescues can’t pull them because they’re full, the adopters are pretty limited, and then, all of a sudden we’ll get a big rush of adopters coming in and it resets us.

“There’s so many theories out there, like we’re [in a] post-COVID world now and people are revenge traveling for Christmas instead of staying home and their family’s coming over and they adopt an animal,” she added. “Everybody’s revenge traveling to the Bahamas, for all we know.”

Over the past several months, Hays County officials have taken steps to address animal shelter overcapacity.

In November, Hays County Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt an interim community cat management policy, diverting healthy community cats from shelters through a Trap Neuter Release (TNR) program.

According to Banduch, SMRAS was able to trap and release several cats since the policy’s implementation, freeing up cages for other strays.

Banduch said she believes the county’s TNR program will be “a game-changer” during peak cat and kitten season.

“[In Spring] people have kittens under their porch, so they’re setting the traps and just catching cats left and right. That’s where I think we’ll see the most impact from that, just being able to get those cats that are not socialized to people, out of those cages, and back where they belong,” she said.

Also, in September, the commissioners approved RFP specifications for an organization to assist with the creation, development, and operation of a Pet Resource Center.

The Pet Resource Center would be 17,749 interior square feet with a covered exterior of 5,950 square feet and cost approximately $23 million.

Capacity, not including medical housing, would allow for 58 canines and 47 felines.

SMRAS also has various programs aimed at reducing the number of shelter intakes.

In 2020, SMRAS received a $20,000 grant from the ASPCA for its Fur-Get-Me-Not program, designed to keep animals with their families and out of the shelter.

The program offers vouchers for veterinary care, pet deposits, and pet supplies to pet owners in need of financial assistance.

Emma, a five-year-old Shepherd mix, is the longest-stay dog at the San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter. As of Friday, Dec. 30, Emma has spent 459 days at SMRAS. To inquire about adoption, call 512-805-2650. Photo courtesy of City of San Marcos

According to Banduch, since the program’s inception, Fur-Get-Me-Not has given away 31 vouchers and thousands of pounds in pet food pantry donations.

SMRAS also has a foster program for people to temporarily shelter animals, “whether the animal’s got a medical need, it’s a bottle baby that needs to be bottle fed, or a mother that’s nursing babies,” Banduch said. “Sometimes we have animals that are going to be leaving on a transport somewhere and just need a foster home for a couple weeks until that transport leaves.”

Most importantly, Banduch said the shelter uses educational outreach to ensure local community members are fully prepared and aware of the responsibilities involved in pet ownership.

“Adopting any time of the year, pets are a lifetime commitment, and please just be ready for that commitment,” she said. “These animals rely on us to take care of them for the rest of their life and we don’t want to put them in a situation where they end up back in a shelter or on the streets because someone wasn’t ready for that.”

The City of San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter is the stray animal open-intake facility for all of Hays County. The shelter is located east of Interstate 35, 750 River Road, approximately 1 mile south of Highway 80 in San Marcos.

To adopt, email animaladoptions@ sanmarcostx. gov or call 512805-2657 during the shelter's open hours.

For animal fostering, email foster@sanmarcostx. gov. For rescues, please email rescues@sanmarcostx.gov.

For resources to help get a stray dog or cat back home, call 512805-2655 or check the Lost/Found link on the SMRAS website.