The city of Lubbock has been known to have a high kill rate for pets entering into Lubbock Animals Services.  This needs to change.  Lubbock should model itself upon another Texas city--Austin.  Austin is one of the largest cities in the US that has achieved a no-kill status, saving over 94% of the animals that came into their facility last year. At one point Austin killed over 50% of their pets, and with the community’s support, this changed within a year. As of current, Lubbock has a kill rate of roughly 50%. Lubbock has a new facility that should encourage better outcomes for pets and their livelihood.  It is time for a change for the animals of Lubbock--and it is possible.

Lubbock should support a TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) program for feral cats, providing spay/neutering and vaccination for these cats.  

Lubbock should use newer methods in place of "temperament testing” as studies have shown that such testing has unfairly labeled certain dogs and cats as "unadoptable".  If pets are deemed as truly unadopted by more accurate methods then rescues should be given the opportunity to take these animals with the attempt to rehabilitate them.

Lubbock also needs to allow more volunteer-based programs to assist their city shelter with their array of needs.  Lubbock Animals Services needs a significant foster program that allows the community to help the furry citizens of Lubbock by fostering, taking pets to adoption events, posting pets to social media, walking and petting pets, etc.  Lubbock Animal Services should also allow 501c3 rescues to help pull animals from the shelter, and any non-501c3 shelters to help as well once they have been verified as a legitimate rescue.

Dogs and cats should be sterilized before adoption to ensure pets leave the facility spayed or neutered.   There should be more low- or no-cost spay and neutering options and those that exist should be promoted more effectively.

Lubbock Animals Services should also consider an auxiliary, "central" location for adoptions (ex. South Plains Mall) additionally with hours consistent with better adoption rates (weekends, holidays and evening hours when more people are off from work).

This petition also supports the Gill family’s desire to build a dog park in memory of their loved one via a public/private partnership.

Let's please work together to make Lubbock a better place for our furry family members, present and future.  There are many wonderful rescues around town but they work at capacity all the time because of the high kill rate at the city shelter.  Let's fight to change this and help everyone, people and pets alike.

For more information on how Lubbock and other communities can become no-kill, please read “Redemption: The No Kill Revolution in America” by Nathan Winograd.