Friday, February 15, 1985/The Battalion/Page 7
Animal shelter provides area services
By DIANA HENSKE
Reporter
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The Brazos Animal Shelter, now
I in its second year, provides an ani-
| mal lost and found service, a pet
I adoption program, and animal con-
| trol for the Bryan-College Station
I area.
“The bottom line is how can we
I help people help these animals,” says
1 Lynne McCulloch, operations man-
| ager for the Brazos Animal Shelter.
The Brazos Animal Shelter is a
I non-profit organization funded pri-
I marily through Bryan, College Sta-
I tion and Brazos County govern-
I ments.
“If there’s something very special
I and unique about tins shelter, it’s the
I fact that it’s literally a shelter that a
■ community built after many, many
■ years of need,” says McCulloch.
The shelter also receives help
I from the Brazos Valley SPCA and
I the Brazos Valley Humane Society.
“They have both been extremely
I supportive to this shelter in terms of
■ donating time, materials, money,
land helping us with special pro-
Ijects,” McCulloch says. “It’s a real
I community effort.”
About 12 to 25 veterinarians take
I an active part in the operation of the
| shelter. The veterinarian of the day
I comes in and vaccinates all incoming
I animals, evaluates any sick or in-
I jured animals, and euthanizes ani-
I mals.
“We are probably unique in the
I United States in not only the amount
I of veterinary support that we have,
I but the scope of services,” she says.
The vetet inarians also support
I the shelter by honoring the neuter
I coupons given to anyone who adopts
I an animal. They may be redeemed
I for a gross physical exam, a rabies
I shot, and neutering.
“They all honor these coupons,”
I McCulloch says. “That’s why we’re
I able to offer such a tremendous
I health package to our adopting fam-
| ilies.”
The staff at the shelter varies
I from paid full-and part-time work-
I ers to volunteers.
“We have a gentleman who works
I part-time for us through the Senior
I Texans Employment Program,” says
| McCulloch. Albert Wilson is a deaf-
| mute who wanted to work with ani-
I mals.
“I think that says a lot. We’re very
1 fortunate to have him working with
| us,” says McCulloch.
Patty Arreola, a part-time em-
| ployee, uses the Texas curriculum
I requirements for kindergarten
Photo by RONNIE CROCKER
Monnie Bond, kennel supervisor of the Brazos Animal Shel
ter inspects a dog kept in the kennel. The shelter has pro
vided a home for 7,900 animals.
through sixth grade to create activ
ities for learning animal care. For
example, a curriculum requirement
for third-grade science is to obtain
science information from varied
sources. The students collect news
clippings about pets and people and
write a story about how the person
might feel aoout the pet.
“The goal is to educate everybody
about being kind to animals and re
specting them,” says Arreola.
“Younger kids’ values are just form
ing and we want to expose them to
some ideas that they may have never
been exposed to.”
Arreola makes teacher packets of
learning activities, gives tours of the
shelter, and is working on expand
ing the program through scouting,
teacher workshops, and veterinarian
visits.
McCulloch stresses the impor
tance of coming to the shelter regu
larly to look for a lost pet.
“Anytime someone is missing
their animal, they need to come
down and see if their animal is he
re,” she says. There is a lost and
found book the pet can be registered
in, but it shouldn’t be relied on com
pletely.
If an animal is brought in with
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General
Meeting
Monday Feb. 18
7 pm 407 Rudder
tags, the staff works diligently on
tracking the tags to find the owner.
“We’ve called all over the country
tracking tags,” says McCulloch.
If someone finds an animal and is
reluctant to bring it to the shelter,
the information is taken down for
the lost and found book, the person
is advised on care and is encouraged
to fun a classified advertisement in
local newspapers.
When animals are brought in as
strays, they are held for a minimum
of three days to allow time for the
owner to claim them. Then they are
available for adoption.
“We adopt out family pets, peri
od,” says McCulloch. “We do not
adopt out guard dogs, watch dogs,
junk yard dogs, or barn cats,” says
McCulloch.
“We want homes where they’re
going to be babied and be part of the
family. Any animal that we have,
whether it’s two days old or two
years old has already been dumped
or trashed once in its life or we
wouldn’t have it.”
Anyone wishing to adopt an ani
mal must fill out an application
which asks questions concerning pre
vious and present pets, knowledge
of pet needs, and the animal’s f uture
home. If the applicant rents, the ap
proval of the management must be
secured.
The applicant must also agree to
have the pet neutered.
“Most pets don’t come from shel
ters anyway, they come from the
next door neighbor whose dog
wasn’t spayed and had a litter,” says
McCulloch. “We don’t want a hand
in that.”
When it becomes impossible to
keep an animal any longer, it is given
a quick painless death by injection.
“We can’t keep them forever be
cause we’re constantly getting new
ones in the front door that also need
an equal opportunity to be claimed
or adopted,” says McCulloch. “For
many of these animals, the love and
respect that they’ve been given here
is probably some of the only love and
respect they’ve ever known in their
lives.
“The last gift of love that we have
to give them is the dignity and the
gentle handling and the respect that
they deserve.”
The shelter is small enough to be
flexible with the amount of time an
animal is held. Occasionally an ani
mal is held up to a month or six
weeks.
“We don’t have the luxury to do
that routinely,” says McCulloch.
“The average can be anywhere f rom
5-7 days.”
The shelter is paid by the govern
ment for the first three holding
days.
“The ideal would be not to have to
euthanize at all, but then everyone
would have to have their dog or cat
neutered,” she says.
The shelter is the animal licensing
authority for Bryan-College Station,
and all pets should be licensed. To
get a license, the owner must bring
proof that the dog or cal is currently
vaccinated by a vet licensed to prac
tice in Texas. The cost of the license
is $5.
The shelter is the animal licensing
authority for Bryan-College Station,
and all pets should be licensed. To
get a license, the owner must bring
proof that the dog or cat is currently
vaccinated by a vet licensed to prac
tice in Texas. The cost of the license
is $5.
“If an animal comes in here with a
city license on, and it’s been injured,
we’ll even secure emergency medical
care for it,” says McCulloch. “It’s the
best $5 health insurance policy I
know of for an animal,” says McCul
loch.
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