The community of Laredo cares about our people and our animals. Animals are a part of our families and community. The current state of affairs at City of Laredo Animal Care Services is not focused on what our community wants and what is in the best interest of our animals and people. The current director is killing healthy dogs and cats unnecessarily while other organizations (and the community!) are offering to help. This is a choice, not a necessity. We want City of Laredo Animal Care Services leadership to accept offers of help from organizations with resources that Laredo desperately needs.  

Killing animals that could be saved with external help is not fair on the shelter staff, this community, or the animals in our shelter.  

We can do better with new and competent leadership who cares about creating change.  

The latest data provided by the shelter shows, LACS took in 417 dogs and 218 cats in the month of August. That same month, 106 dogs were euthanized AND 158 dogs died in care. 38 cats were euthanized but an astounding 181 cats died in care throughout the month. That’s an average of over 5 cats dying in care every day. These numbers are appalling and raise concerns about how leadership is overseeing the day to day operations of the shelter.  

The community of Laredo wants to see a Director who is focused on lifesaving, a medical service provider who approaches medical services according to current animal sheltering best practices, and an organization that is focused on the health, safety, and welfare of our animals and community.  

Regardless of the circumstances of why an animal ends up at LACS or relies on taxpayer-funded resources, the facility should be managed with professionalism and maintained in a clean and sanitary manner.  Improving community relations, building robust programs, and increasing partnerships should always be the priority of leadership. The Shelter Director’s inaction and resistance to accept national standards and offers of support is the sole reason for the horrible conditions, high pet death rate and lack of community services offered at LACS.

There are programs and grants available that the City of Laredo could accept, improving not only facilities and available care at LACS, but also the programs for pet owners in the community, such as spay and neuter programs, immunization clinics, and training programs. However, the current leadership at LACS refused to even discuss a recent shelter assessment, an assessment that cost LACS no money and used no LACS personnel to conduct.  To even suggest that the findings and proposed changes would be too expensive is plainly inaccurate, as available funding source options were included in the discussion and next steps.  A crucial benefit of partnering with a non-profit organization is the resources they are able to introduce, such as substantial grants and donations. Thoughtful expenditure is welcome, but dismissing opportunities for resources, community support, and funding for Laredo is unacceptable- especially when our community’s needs are so great.