HOUSTON — Nearly 400 dogs at Houston’s animal shelter and adoption center are in need of temporary homes while BARC undergoes a deep clean.
The facility is closed for a week in an effort to fight the spread of distemper.
No new intake of animals will be accepted during that time.
Most dogs at BARC are healthy and are expected to get adopted or fostered out soon.
Houston Pets Alive! (HPA), an animal rescue organization, is making room to take in sick dogs from BARC.
For instance, an old grocery store on the southwest side of Houston is home to dozens of dogs once considered unwanted or at risk of being put down.
Over the next few days HPA will take in up to 50 dogs from BARC.
HPA is full of dogs in need of forever homes, but the rescue is making space to house and treat dogs from BARC showing signs and symptoms of upper respiratory illness or distemper.
Andrea Birkelbach, executive director or Houston Pets Alive!, said the rescue is used to treating the disease.
“We’ve learned from the experts through the Maddie’s Lifesaving Project over at Austin Pets Alive! on how to treat distemper cases so once we get them, we treat them and we adopt them out ourselves,” Birkelbach said.
Sick dogs are quarantined and treated based on the severity of illness.
“We’re taking the ones that other folks, other rescues, are a little bit more nervous to take," said HPA shelter director Miranda Hitchcock. "It’s something that we’re very skilled at. We have the resources to be able to deal with these cases. We have great protocols in place and a great vet team.”
HPA plans to work with BARC to update its intake process to stop the spread of the disease in the future.
At the moment, Hitchcock asks the community to step in to help.
“We’re looking to all the rescue partners in the area as well as the adopters and fosters to really step up and be willing to take somebody," she said. "We can’t do it without the entire team here in Houston."
Dogs from BARC that are not showing any signs of being sick will be monitored for a few days before being put up for adoption.
HPA is located at Stella Link at Braeswood. For more information, call (832) 786-9310.