The festive frolic at The Colony Animal Care Services looked fit for a four-legged king. Food resembling a Christmas feast, a state representative stepping in for Santa Claus, and dogs trotted out in their season's finest.

Mark Cooper, the director of Animal Care Services, said some of the animals that come there go through a lot. With 27 kennels for dogs and 35 spots for cats, space can be at a premium.

Why pets are surrendered to shelters  

"And there's a multitude of reasons why people surrender," Cooper said. "Some are very understandable."

Cooper said things like size and financial reasons come up. They even try to help owners with pet food at food banks. Then, there are some factors where he and his staff focus on the animal and not the person filling out the surrender questionnaire.

"You know, we've had animals surrender because their fur didn't match their furniture," he said.

During the year, the spring/summer opens the doors to a spike in pet surrenders. The shelter takes in 1200-1300 annually, with a more boarding-oriented approach than a municipal one. That means the animals live.

"It's summertime, a lot of people travel. And they're busy during the summer months, he said. "So they, especially once school is released, and we end up just taking in a higher number."

Then, come Thanksgiving time, Cooper said some owners will use the guise of surrender to keep from paying boarding or kennel costs. The gamble, he said, in less than five days, the pet becomes the city's property. It can be sent to a rescue, adopted out, or, if they choose, put down.

Seasonal spikes in pet surrenders  

Cooper said the calls started on Nov. 21.

"Of course, it was the week before Thanksgiving, and the shelter opened at 10 a.m., and within the first 30 minutes of being open, we had already received four calls of people needing to surrender their animals specifically because they were leaving to go out of town for Thanksgiving," he said.

There's another rush coming the week of Christmas, he said. After the holidays, when the idea of the pet isn't as cute as it seemed or the dog's too big, he said the animals will go to shelters.

While some kennels can be pricey, Cooper said the animal shelter isn't a pooch or cat hotel. As for those who try to use the bogus boardings, he said reunification is slim. In most cases, the shelter will put them on a do-not-adopt list.

Dallas Animal Services said it is not currently facing this issue. Fort Worth said the same.

A representative for Fort Worth Animal Care & Control said it has not historically seen a spike in owner surrenders during the holiday season, primarily due to its managed intake program.

Through the program, surrenders are done by appointment, where a comprehensive background check is done on the animal, as much as possible. The information also helps in new home placement.