If you rewind to 2019, the Kerr County Commissioners Court held a behind-closed-doors meeting to change the hours of the Kerr County Animal Services shelter — effectively eliminating Saturday hours.
Despite evidence to the contrary, mainly presented during a November 2019 town hall meeting, the county has kept the shelter closed for adoptions on Saturdays. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic didn’t help, but it never stopped Kerrville Pets Alive from advocating for adoption events on the weekend.
On Saturday, after nearly three years, KPA! got its wish to hold an adoption event and proved the effectiveness of the time by facilitating six dogs and two cats finding new homes — in four hours.
“It can be done and it can be successful with our help,” said KPA President Karen Guerriero.
Before the pandemic, the county moved to close the shelter, arguing it was the slowest day of the week. The move enraged animal advocates, leading to the foundation of KPA, but the county is a reluctant adoption agency.
Back in 2019, former Precinct 2 Commissioner Tom Moser said it was a business the county didn’t want. Earlier this month, Precinct 1 Commissioner Harley David Belew reiterated a desire not to do adoptions. Once again, KPA and animal advocates have pushed back against that assertion pointing to the approval of Proposition C, a bond measure funding a new animal shelter.
And with Saturday adoptions, people from outside Kerrville can visit the shelter, and that’s precisely what happened.
Charriss Barrow drove from Junction after she saw a KPA post promoting the event. She brought her 14-month-old son, Kase, with her, and they quickly found a female shepherd mix. While Kase was interested in exploring the Animal Services building, the new dog greeted everyone, including Kase.
Barrow said she wasn’t worried about a bigger dog in her house, which is also home to a Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix, because Kase’s great-grandmother has three larger dogs.
But Barrow said she was looking forward to getting to know the dog and giving her a proper name. There were plenty of stories like that on Saturday, as KPA’s volunteers shared social media updates to get the word out and were available to make canine (or feline) introductions.
In the cat room, Shelly Sandy was thrilled to see all of the cats adopted.
“I’m so excited,” she said. “We’ve had some really great cats here, and they have done really well.”
One such dog was a shepherd mix Bruno, a shelter veteran, but on a sunny day, he was happy to have a ball thrown at him in the yard. For Bruno, it was a good day; for others in the old kennels, it was even better.
