LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Lubbock Animal Services is seeing a rise in the number of pet owners requesting to surrender their animals, with surrender requests increasing sharply over the past month.
The shelter recorded 45 pet surrenders in June. So far in July, that number has reached 119 — 74 more than the previous month.
Taylor Ruggles, assistant director of Lubbock Animal Services, said the reasons for surrenders vary, including finances, old age, relocation and deaths in the family.
“When you speak with these people having to own or surrender their animals, they’re usually very emotional and having to give them up because this is a part of their family,” Ruggles said.
Ruggles said the shelter wants to be a last resort for animals coming from homes.
“We want to be the last resort for animals coming in from homes because your animal is used to you, your animal’s used to a nice quiet home,” Ruggles said.
Before surrendering, the shelter encourages owners to explore rehoming options, including local Facebook groups such as “Lubbock Rehome Your Pets Here” and “Lubbock Animal Adoption,” as well as apps like Nextdoor and PawBoost.
The shelter also said it can provide food to owners who cannot afford to feed their pets.
“You’re saying, I have to own or surrender my dog because I can’t afford to feed it, we’ll say like, come up and we’ll provide you with whatever food we do have available,” Ruggles said.
Lubbock Animal Shelter requires an appointment for owner surrenders to ensure space is available. There is a $50 fee. Staff said the larger concern, however, is the stress placed on the animal.
“I would say that the shelter is a very stressful place for a lot of animals,” Ruggles said. “You’re exposing it to diseases and potential infections that we don’t even know about because we’re handling animals that we don’t have any background or medical history for.”
Animal Shelter Officer Josiah Rodriguez said staff works to manage the volume of animals coming in.
“We try to do the best we can, but the reality is we have a lot of animals,” Rodriguez said.
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