HOUSTON - The intake policy at BARC Animal Shelter is confusing and concerning for some people who show up to drop off dogs.
They’re being told to go back home and come back in seven days.
“I couldn’t keep him. My dog is a hunting dog, so they go after these little creature, so I couldn’t keep him,” she explained. “I said, ‘Where is he going to live?’ They said just make a shelter. A shelter? So he lived in the car.”
BARC officials say there’s a good reason for their intake policy. It was implemented in April after a distemper outbreak shut down the shelter.
They noticed an uptick in upper respiratory illness in the dog population after Hurricane Harvey.
Photos: Countless pets rescued during Hurricane Harvey
To prevent the spread of disease, people who bring animals to the shelter are funneled through a car port in the back of the shelter. The dogs are vaccinated without ever leaving the car.
The person is then asked to take the dog home and return in seven days.
BARC shelter director Greg Damianoff says exceptions are made for sick or injured dogs.
“No one is being turned away. People are being asked to help us. We need their assistance,” said Greg Damianoff, BARC Shelter Director. “We’re one of the few places in the country that’s actually trying to practice [the policy] to the best of our ability with all protocols to quarantine the animals, so we have the most healthy group we can put out to the public.”
He says the policy seems to be working at BARC.
However, animal rescue groups are still worried about the well-being of animals who are turned away, even temporarily.
Pendas never brought the puppy she found back to BARC. It was picked up by a local rescue group Tuesday.