The details
During the meeting, BARC Director Jarrad Mears said Houston’s animal shelter does not have the funding or space to adequately achieve desired outcomes such as public safety and live releases.
According to BARC’s presentation, BARC responds to 99% of priority one and two calls—typically bite cases, aggressive animals and animals in imminent danger. However, BARC has insufficient resources to respond to priority three and four calls, typically reports of stray animals.
“We need to be able to proactively patrol the neighborhoods,” Mears said. “Our current enforcement capacity is strictly reactive. We don’t have an opportunity to be proactive and go out there and patrol areas. We respond based on the severity of the situation.”
According to a March 1 update, BARC said the shelter saw nearly 2,000 more animal intakes in 2024 than the previous year. To help with the rising animal intakes, Mears said BARC needs to build a new shelter right next to their current shelter.
Zooming in
Voters approved a $47 million bond in 2022 to construct a new nearly 61,000-square-foot shelter next to BARC’s current location to provide an additional 150 kennels with new staff.
“The infrastructure is pretty dilapidated,” Mears said. “I think we spend more money repairing things. We could’ve bought a new building by now. This is something that we desperately need. Construction costs are only going up as we speak.”
Mears said the design for the project is finished and BARC is starting the process to begin construction of the new shelter, with construction taking up to two years to complete. BARC’s Director of Communications Cory Stottlemyer said there is no set date for the shelter’s construction.
Mears said BARC also needs to increase fundraising efforts, citing that the shelter receives far less funding per capita than any other city in Texas. BARC’s budget is nearly $16 million, but with a 2.3 million population that’s increasing every year, BARC only receives $6.75 funding per capita, while other cities receive far more funding per capita:
- San Antonio: $14.44 per capita
- Dallas: $14.07 per capita
- Austin: $17.92 per capita
- Fort Worth: $11.84 per capita
- El Paso: $13.83 per capita
An LGC is a corporation created to act on behalf of one or more local governments to accomplish any governmental purpose of those local governments, according to the state’s transportation code. Organizations such as the Houston Zoo and Houston First are LGCs.
However, Mears said this funding model isn’t an ideal model for BARC, as the shelter would need seed money—initial funding to begin operations—to operate as an LGC, with that money having to come out of BARC’s “already insufficient budget.” Additionally, Mears said there are no shelters in Houston that run as an LGC, but instead they run as nonprofits.
"All it does is move people around and results in fewer resources for both entities," Mears said. "It does not solve the resource issue for BARC."
The breakdown
Mears told Community Impact if BARC became an LGC, the shelter would have to move a chunk of its 124 full-time employees to the new shelter, which could put a strain on operations at the current shelter.
“Running that new facility, it would take a good 65 of them away,” Mears said. “We need all of those employees on deck here at BARC at this location working.”
Instead, Mears said a public/nonprofit partnership would have an animal welfare nonprofit’s staff help run the new shelter. Mears pointed to a current partnership BARC has with the nonprofit Rescued Pets Movement which has helped BARC transfer nearly 8,000 animals annually.
“A nonprofit partnership could potentially perform some of the duties for less money than what the city can do,” Mears said. “Without their services, BARC would be in some real trouble.”
Mears said BARC recommends the shelter pursues partnerships with nonprofit animal welfare shelters through multiple phases:
- Phase one: Find an experienced nonprofit animal welfare partner for an outreach retail center to provide pet services to the public such as grooming, wellness and accessories.
- Phase two: If successful, BARC could transition to an LGC.
Some council members, such as Mario Castillo, pushed the idea of BARC becoming an LGC as it would allow the shelter to receive money from the city.
“Hearing the reasons why we shouldn’t do an LGC, I’m struggling with it,” Castillo said. “I don’t like, ‘Well no one else does it this way, so we shouldn’t.’ We’re our own city, we’re unique. We have our own issues and if this works for us, then let's try it.”
Castillo also suggested that BARC could increase service fees to help expand the revenue; however, Mears said the dogs that are picked up are often from low-income areas.
“Let's face it, we’re not picking up loose animals in River Oaks,” Mears told Community Impact. “We’re picking up loose animals in District B and the East End, and areas like that that are traditionally socio-economically challenged. We don’t want to hold those animals hostages because they’re unable to afford the fee. Sometimes, we have to cut those fees in order for them to be reunited with their animals.”
Residents such as Wendy Schneider said they support the LGC model and believe it is most likely to further BARC’s mission of public safety and bring a “much needed change and innovation” to the shelter.
“Nobody wants to donate to a sinking ship,” Schneider said. “I think innovation through the LGC offers some real increased fundraising potential, the possibility of collaborating with nonprofits that offer operational flexibility and efficiency and introduces innovative community programs. People want something fresh, a fresh start with BARC.”
