Houston, We Have A Problem
Texas is battling a massive unwanted pet overpopulation crisis. There are thousands of stray dogs in Houston alone and it breaks my heart to hear about this happening in our country.
Harris County, an area near Houston, is known for being one of the worst counties for stray and unwanted pets in America. The human population in this county is 4.6 million and the animal shelter intake is 18,000 per year.
Even Harris County now has a live release rate of 90% versus 15% five years ago. The Houston SPCA just raised 30 million for its shelter and animal care center and is about to raise $13 million more.
But let’s take a look at Howl Meow’s home state of New Mexico: 2 million humans, less than half of Harris County, and over 120,000 dogs and cats entering our shelters each year – that’s 6 times the amount of one of the worst counties talked about in our country. And to boot, over 25%, yes, one in every four are discarded mainly with our taxpayer money. We don’t invest in this problem we try to kill it off, which is a never-ending emotional (for those who care) & financial mess!
Why should we care about Houston? Well, if you love animals as we do, every life matters, and thankfully, many caring organizations responded to this crisis and are on the ground making a difference – Petsmart, Emancipet, SPCA, Best Friends, and many others.
New Mexico has just as big a problem as Houston, if not bigger. And New Mexicans need to care enough to save their own homeless pets, because no one is watching us like they are watching Houston. At least for now.
Like many underserved states, New Mexico’s taxes and millions of donated dollars are used to rescue and support an outdated method of dealing with the problem. Although New Mexican’s would love to have the $30+ million Houston’s SPCA has to spread across the state for spay/neuter, it’s not going to happen. New Mexico does not have the wealth that Texas does.
