Loose dogs, owned or stray, continue to be a public health and safety concern.
In addition to the inherent danger to dogs allowed to roam or are abandoned, people living in affected communities are also impacted.
With an increase in 311 calls for help, BARC is struggling to handle the call volume with only 35 animal control officers on the payroll.
“Currently, we’re not answering 42% of our calls due to manpower and lack of resources,” says Jarrad Mears, BARC Deputy Shelter Director over animal enforcement. “A city this size needs upwards of 100 officers to be able to maintain and answer our calls.”
But that’s not in the city’s budget. Houston spends less per capita on animal control than any other major city in Texas.
The difference in budgets from city to city is striking. For fiscal year 2024, Houston budgeted $15.6 million for BARC. In Dallas, animal services was allocated $18.3 million. In San Antonio, animal care services were just given $28.5 million by City Council in the wake of a fatal mauling in February.
Shelby Bobosky with the Texas Humane Legislation Network says more needs to be done to support animal control in Houston.
“We need to keep the community safe and if you have a small field team and you are required to go to vast areas of your city and you can’t get there in time, that is a public safety crisis,” Bobosky says.
Outgoing City Controller Chris Brown, says while he understands the need for greater enforcement, the safety need in Houston is great and the budget can’t accommodate every department equally.
“I think the challenge is all the city departments since I’ve been controller have had to do more with less,” Brown says.
With federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act set to run out by 2026, he anticipates an uphill climb.
“The future looks like we’re gonna have to make extra cuts due to the expiration of the federal funding.”
Ultimately the city’s incoming administration will determine if BARC gets a boost in funding. In the meantime, barc says there are things you can do to help. Make sure your pets can’t escape your yard, microchip your pets as required by the city of Houston, and spay or neuter your animals.
For access to low-cost or no-cost spay/neuter options, here’s a list of groups that can help:
- Give Our Pets A Hand - Gopah.Org
- Emancipet - Emancipet.Org
- Houston SPCA - Houstonspca.Org
- Houston Humane Society - Houstonhumane.Org
- Safe Haven Vets - Safehavenvets.Com
- Houston Spay and Neuter - Houstonspayneuter.Com
- Barrio Dogs - Barriodogs.Org
- The Empty Shelter Project - Theemptyshelterproject.Org