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- The new billboard will appear around the area. (Photo Credit: Jen Rice)
- Judge Ed Emmett announces the program expansion while holding an adoptable puppy. (Photo Credit: Jen Rice)
- PetSet co-presidents Tena Lundquist Faust and Tama Lundquist announce plans. (Photo Credit: Jen Rice)
- Philanthropist Jan Duncan speaks about the donation. (Photo Credit: Jen Rice)
- PetSet presents donation that will help expand programs. (Photo Credit: Jen Rice)
Advocates and public officials held an animal welfare summit back in October to coordinate a plan to reduce the number of strays in Harris County. They say it's a big problem in Houston and now they have funding to help meet their goals.
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett announced a partnership between the Harris County Animal Shelter and local non-profit PetSet. PetSet is footing the bill for some additional animal welfare services.
Purvez Captain is on the board of PetSet and he says their top priority is expanding access to the spay and neuter clinic – and making sure that people know to use it. "With the grant, we're going to hire more vets and more vet techs," he says. "And Dr. White is looking at six to seven days a week, with evening hours."
Judge Emmett says PetSet funding will also support the shelter's transfer program, which sends strays to shelters out of state. "Believe it or not, there are a lot of states that are short of pets to adopt, so we've got a great program that allows us to give these pets homes in other states," he says.
According to Emmett, one of the shelter's biggest problems is that people don't know about it. "We call them pets, but we have a lot of stray animals," he says. "We've got to have a spay and neuter program. And there are a lot of people, frankly, that can't afford that or they don't think about it."
That's why they've designed billboards to help promote the shelter's services – and you can look for them soon around the city.