With the passing of the county’s Proposition 3 last November, the Harris County Animal Shelter is poised to receive a $24 million funding boost to increase holding space and improve shelter conditions. Voters passed the bond proposal with nearly 62 percent approval.

Plans include the construction of three new buildings in total, including a new adoption center, shelter holding area and isolation and quarantine building to hold sick animals and to allow them to be isolated from healthy animals.

County officials are in the early planning stages for constructing the new buildings, and no timetable has been set at this point. All aspects of the upgrade will take place on property already owned by the county.

Dr. Michael White, director of the Harris County Veterinary Public Health Department, said he expects having an adoption center on-site will make a big difference in helping animals get adopted.

“Not having an actual adoption center is something that holds us back,” he said. “This would give people a chance to interact with the animal, which is huge in terms of allowing them to form early bonds.”

The existing shelter, located at 612 Canino Road, was built in 1986 and is designed to hold about 12,000 animals per year. In 2014, the shelter took in about 25,000 cats and dogs. Officials estimate it receives about 80 animals per day on average.

Virtually all existing space at the shelter is used for cages to store animals, White said. The additional holding area will provide five times the kennel space, allowing the shelter to increase adoptions, decrease euthanasia rates and engage more local rescue groups like Purr Paws Rescue in Cy-Fair, he said.

Data from 2015 shows about 70 percent of animals that enter the shelter are euthanized.

“As a municipal organization, we can’t just turn pets away,” White said. "But at the same time, our space is limited. This part is vital just for getting more animals out alive."

Plans for refurbishing the shelter also include making the facility more useful for the public, White said, potentially including a space where veterinarians can host open educational events.

Under White’s direction, the shelter has taken on some measures of its own to make better use of its space, causing euthanasia rates to fall from a 2010 peak of 83 percent to the current 70 percent rate.

White noted that, although the bond money will save pet lives, educating the public remains the most effective way to combat the increase in stray animals that comes with population growth throughout unincorporated Harris County.

“The problem won’t be solved until we get people to start being more responsible pet owners,” he said.