Stray animals problem on the rise in Texas. With animal shelters full, stray dogs suffering from extreme heat, we had to help.

In June 2022, I spent a week in south Texas where Path of Hope works with a small network of volunteers to pull adoptable dogs that match our mission. This trip was very different from past visits. We went to experience the extreme hardships of street and shelter dogs firsthand. We guarded our hearts, but nothing could prepare us for the emotional and mental toll this trip took.

A brown and dark black fur shelter puppy locked in a white steel cage pressing his paws against the bar inside a street dog shelter in Houston Texas looking sad upset and angry — If we don’t help them, who will? (Path of Hope Facebook)

It didn’t take long to see how dogs are treated very differently. As we rounded the corner to our Airbnb in a suburban neighborhood at 2 a.m., a white dog darted into the street near our van. He was unaltered and didn’t have a collar. Did he belong to someone? we wondered. As a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest where dogs are regarded as family, I couldn’t wrap my head around a roaming dog in the middle of the night. And it only got worse.

We visited two small shelters first. They were at capacity with a dozen or less pens each. Dogs were confined to cell-like enclosures with cement floors. Some lacked raised beds to sleep on. The first shelter allowed AC from the office to slightly cool the dogs as they waited to be placed with a rescue or face euthanasia.

A shelter dog with white and dark brown fur looking sad and upset standing inside a closed steel cage in an animal shelter in Houston Texas with blue pet pad and white window — Dogs are locked inside tiny cages with no air conditioning (Path of Hope Facebook)

The second shelter lacked AC and even fans. Temperatures reached triple digits every day. Several dogs there habitually ripped their water buckets from their pen doors in frustration. They were crazy in their confinement and going to combat with the one thing provided to sustain them in the unrelenting Texas heat.

The third shelter we visited was massive but still at capacity with 1,286 residents. Dogs were kept two to a pen. Overflow cages crowed the walkways, and some held two large dogs or multiple puppies. They barked incessantly and lunged at us as if they were pleading for freedom.

“They’d be happier on the street,” I thought.

Then we entered the “aggressive dog” area. It contained 25 or 30 dogs. They’re already dead, I knew, but I steeled myself and walked slowly past each kennel to look in their wild eyes and tell them hello in a soothing voice.

Picture of three little brown shelter puppies with dark brown nose and eyes standing in a tiny small locked cage with colorful sheet padding in a dog shelter in Houston Texas — Overcrowded animal shelters with staffing shortages only lead to disasters (Path of Hope Facebook)

We crept slowly through economically depressed communities from the comfort of our air-conditioned van. In the early evening when temperatures dropped, these areas were crawling with unaltered dogs. In the heat of the day, they hid under houses. At a local convenience store, three young strays propped themselves up against the outdoor ice cooler to find some relief.

On a sweltering afternoon, a boxer mix sprawled on a covered porch. We stopped to call him to us. He came willingly but had a pronounced limp. The resident of the home came out on the front porch to chat with us. She said he arrived and wouldn’t leave. She told us she called Animal Control but they are at capacity and can’t pick him up. She implored us to take him. But the story gets uglier. He scrounges for food in nearby trash cans. His limp was caused when a neighbor beat him with a pipe for getting into the garbage.

A wolf looking big white fur dog with blue eyes and black nose sitting in a closed steel cage looking through the bar fence at the outside in an animal shelter in Houston Texas — They need your help, you can save lives too! (Path of Hope Facebook)

During our visit to Texas, we met with four volunteers who network with each other to save dogs across multiple counties that are hours apart. They are one-woman shows without much community support. They are not viewed as saints and saviors. They are regarded as crazy dog ladies and overwhelmed with strays and boxes of orphaned puppies at an overwhelming rate.

These are highly adoptable dogs that can be transported out of Texas and placed in ideal homes if more fosters step up to help everywhere.

Path of Hope Rescue is trying to open up for intake again this year, but we still need fosters to make a small commitment to dogs in desperate need. When you provide a temporary home, the impact is tremendous.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your consideration.

Jodie S

Check out our Why Texas? article to learn more about our mission of helping stray dogs & street puppies in Texas.

Our Foster Program is currently looking for more Foster Families for Dogs. When you foster, you save a life!

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