Garland Animal Services is dispelling rumors that incorrectly claim the shelter will euthanize animals brought in related to the tornado after seven days. The rumors caused panic on social media Tuesday.
"Any animal that comes in that we think may be even remotely associated with the storm, we are going to hold as long as possible," said Jason Chessher, Director of Health in Garland.
Animal services continues to respond to calls in the disaster area, as well as send officers to patrol storm-damaged parts of town in an effort to find lost pets.
"We've impounded about 14 animals as a result of the storm. Those animals were found in that general area," Chessher said.
Under any circumstance, rules dictate how long animals are held after they are brought to the shelter before they're placed up for adoption. If the animal is a stray, and there isn't a belief anyone owns the animal, it must be held for at least three working days.
If an animal is presumed to have an owner or has some type of identification, it is held a minimum of six working days before it can even be placed up for adoption to ensure an owner has time to claim it.
Now, animal services says it will ensure extra time for those pets they believe are homeless following the storm. While the shelter is overloaded with donations from an outpouring of support, it is not overrun with animals. In fact, there is still extra space for even more animals.
"I expect that time will not be an issue, in terms of holding animals for owners to reclaim them," Chessher said.
If space were to become an issue, other shelters and volunteer organizations are on standby ready to help.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Since the storm, various social media pages have been developed to help owners find their missing pets. While the effort is heartfelt, Chessher said the absolute best thing for a missing pet is to take it to the shelter, because that is often the first place its owners will look.
"I think their intentions are good, there is no doubt their intentions are good, but again we've got an established protocol that we though through to hold animals, and we have social media sites too," Chessher said.
"The best thing is to bring the animal to Garland Animal Services. Citizens who lost their dog come to us looking for it," he added.
