BIG SPRING, Texas — Over run by strays, dozens of dogs and cats are without homes and kennels at the Big Spring animal shelter are running out.
"Right now we're over capacity. Sometimes we'll come to work and they'll be tied to our gate or left by the gate and hoping they don't run into traffic. It's just as fast as we can get them out, they're coming in," said Khristy McMahan, Happy Day Humane Society dog trainer.
Both the Big Spring animal shelter and Happy Day Humane Society are maxed out, with more animals on the way.
"We get three out and there are 20 more that need to come in," McMahan said.
Their lowest animal count since 2015 was 74 dogs. That was about 10 months ago.
Khristy is one of the dog trainers at Happy Day. She tells me their facility is made for 100 dogs. They have 146.
The city animal shelter has 35 day-to-day kennels, but 36 dogs to house. The problem?
"People are not getting their dogs altered, they're not spaying or neutering. That'll cause a huge, huge difference," McMahan said. "We want to see our animals' lives prosper. We want to see animals be happy and healthy and live in wonderful homes. It's just going to take time to get everybody on the same page."
About half the dogs at Happy Day Humane Society have some level of basic training. They know how to leash walk, they're potty-trained and they're fully vetted.
Happy Day says they wouldn't be able to function without the help of rescues from other states like Our Pack and Transport. These rescues work with Happy Day to ship their dogs and cats to places like Wisconsin once a month. It can range from five to 20 dogs.
Khristy says she believes every dog deserves a chance at a good life.
"Before you give your dog up, call us. See if we can come help fix whatever's making you want to give them up. A lot of times you just need to redirect, refocus. So there are steps that you can take to help keep your dog," McMahan said.
For more information about adoption, you can visit either of these websites: