MIDLAND, Texas — According to a Facebook post made by Fix West Texas Executive Director Karen Patterson on Wednesday, the shelter received an urgent message that same day at 11 a.m. from the City of Midland.
"On Wednesday, an email was sent out by the city shelter staff that local rescues had about two hours to rescue close to 20 dogs or they would be euthanized before the holidays," said Patterson.
Patterson also says that the email came out of the blue for her and that she was shocked when she read it.
"The email message just was like a gut punch because on Monday we were told there was no urgent list and then we actually got another email prior to this one on Wednesday about an hour and a half before with no mention of an urgent list. So it was just a gut punch, like, 'oh my god. If I don't drop what I'm doing right here at the grocery store in the next two hours these animals will die,'" Patterson continued.
Patterson feels that Midland Animal Services should’ve been pushing for adoptions in the lead up to the holidays like Fix West Texas was.
“We all know the holidays are coming," Patterson said. "We all know that there are more strays and owner surrenders, so I’m not sure why the city was not doing some sort of home for the holiday project like we were doing and like most other shelters in the United States were doing.”
We were able to reach out to the City of Midland for comment earlier this week and they stated that Midland Animal Services acknowledged the confusion and contradictions in their communications issued on both Monday and Wednesday.
They hadn’t initially planned to release an urgent list on Wednesday, but that decision changed the same day. They want to provide a much longer rescue timeframe moving forward and said that six animals did manage to be rescued on Wednesday in collaboration with the community.
They wish to have better communication inside and outside the shelter with community partners and will strive to continue improving.
There will be an Animal Services Commission board meeting on Monday, November 27th at noon at the MLK Community Center where Patterson says she intends on voicing her thoughts on decisions made by MAS.