Red Alert Helps Save The Day For Dallas Pets
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Sisters Tanya Guidry and Debra McCauley hit the doors of the Dallas Animal Shelter with the determined stride of women on a mission: hurriedly eyeing the holding areas and stopping only to whisper excitedly, "look at that one!" or "oh my goodness."
The last minute sibling excursion had been spawned by an attention grabbing tweet.
"I saw the adorable little face of a poor little guy that was going to be euthanized, and it said 'Red Alert' really big," explained Guidry in a rush. "And I said, `oh, my gosh'! And I know my sister loves dogs and she's been searching for one. And we were just looking at one last night. When we saw they were going to be euthanized, I thought I had to let her know."
Over the weekend, Dallas Animal Services tweeted pictures of nine animals whose extended time at the shelter—between 40 and 60 days—had become a concern. That in itself was nothing new. But, this time, a "Red Alert" banner had been added.
"My sister sent it to me," says Debra McCauley, "and I love dogs and I wanted to come save a life. Seeing that dogs were going to get euthanized just because there's too many of them here makes me sad, made me want to come and save a little life." And then adding as snuggled a mixed lab… "maybe this one."
City staffers say the featured animals are exactly living on borrowed time. But, the reality is—the shelter only has so much space.
"It's a hard part of the job, it really is," said Teresa Cleek with Dallas Animal Services. "And again, it's not something that anybody wants to do, but it's something that unfortunately, we have to do."
Cleek says the shelter euthanizes anywhere from between 15-40 animals a day… mostly because they are sick, injured or have behavioral problems that would make them unfit for adoption.
"Maybe the "Red Alert" was a twist, trying to get them out there," Cleek said, "and it worked! Not that it was anything that was false, because it is very, very true. What we deal with every day, it's a true issue."
By late Tuesday, six of the nine featured animals had found new homes. And while the remaining three didn't have a deadline to be adopted, Cleek said in spite of daily exercise, animals that are in shelters for too long can develop behavioral problems that would make them unfit for adoption and would ultimately have to be put down. But, she remains convinced that North Texas animal lovers will come through.
"It's sad. It's horrible," McCauley said. "I wish I could take them all home. In a perfect world..." And then adding with a determined nod, "I think I'm gonna find a little friend today."
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