Shelter Urges Public to Save 19 Healthy Dogs Set to Be Euthanized

A dog rescue due to euthanize 18 healthy dogs on Wednesday has postponed its decision after receiving calls from across the country asking to adopt the pups.

Many Americans buy a puppy for a season and then abandon it for one reason or another, leaving shelters across the country extremely overcrowded. Some of these dogs end up being put down due to lack of space.

In a post shared on Tuesday an overcrowded shelter in Texas has made an urgent appeal to the public to adopt 18 dogs that were initially set to be euthanized at 5 pm on Wednesday if nobody was willing to adopt them on time.

The shelter later updated Newsweek saying that after receiving several calls from people interested in adopting the dogs, they decided to give them two more days, so they now have until Friday at 5 pm.

The original post comes with a caption that reads: "[19] dogs that have until 5 pm tomorrow 08/02 and have nothing! Harris County Shelter 612 Canino in Houston. Please message me if you can help!" It is followed by: "I'm exhausted! These dogs need adopters and fosters! We CANNOT wait until 4 pm tomorrow or we will lose them!"

Laura Brown, a volunteer who helps out at the shelter, told Newsweek: "We have saved every single dog off the euth list at Harris County Shelter in Houston. We have [19] to save today by 5 p.m.! This will be hard. We are scrambling!"

"Out-of-state adopters have been key, and we have means to transport them through rescues," Brown added. "I have hundreds of update photos from dogs with their new families. If you could somehow help spread word about today's dogs, that would help so much! If you would like to hear more about our efforts, please contact me at 248-894-0276."

Brown added that while this morning the number of dogs hoping to find a kind-hearted human to give them a last-minute home was 18, it has now grown to 19.

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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says that around 6.3 million companion animals enter U.S. shelters nationwide every year. Of those, some 3.1 million are dogs.

About 710,000 of the dogs who enter shelters as strays every year are safely returned to their owners, while 2 million are adopted and about 390,000 are euthanized.

The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 10,700 views and almost 4,000 likes since it was first published on the platform on Tuesday, by @rescuedogarmy.

One user, Jameson Monroe, commented: "Applied for Gibbs. I have space for any pup that is friendly with other pups!"

Kara and Scout gsd/boxer wrote: "These beautiful dogs it breaks my heart that anyone would ever put down these sweet dogs boost!" And Sarah Lo added: "I could be wrong but I just see so many posts from TX [Texas]. Thank you to the volunteers for trying to help save these animals!!"

Update 8/2/23, 9:10 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a video from the original poster, Laura Brown, and new pictures.

Update 8/2/23, 11:03 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a comment from the original poster, Laura Brown.

Update 8/3/23, 10:20 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a comment from the original poster, Laura Brown.

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