Katy Police Department Aims to Save Healthy Animals Under City Care

KATY MAGAZINE NEWS

February 8, 2021

By Natalie Cook Clark

The City of Katy is implementing steps to potentially save every healthy and treatable animal under the care in the Katy animal shelter.

Fort Bend Pets Alive! to Make Donation to Katy Shelter

Fort Bend Pets Alive!, a local non-profit organization, is dedicated to helping pets and making Fort Bend County a no-kill community. The group has committed to donate $2,000 worth of care vaccines to the City of Katy with the City’s official consensus to save every healthy and treatable animal to their standard.

Organization Makes Recommendations

Fort Bend Pets Alive! has made a variety of recommendations that will allow the shelter to increase the hold time of animals and limit disease and poor conditions.

The need for vaccinations is the first of their two prerequisites in their recommendations.

“There is absolutely no reason not to vaccinate animals upon intake immediately,” says the organization in a press release shared today.

By doing so, the shelter will reduce disease and can extend the hold time from 72 hours to 7 days. Their donation will go toward funding vaccines that will stop the spread of distemper, parvo, URI, etc.

The cost effective vaccines are about $5 for one dog or cat and less than $10 per puppy.

In order for ensure that the hold time will be successful, Fort Bend Pets Alive! suggests another prerequisite - the implementation of proper and effective sanitation along with on-going training for all employees. The organization also recommends that a veterinarian with shelter medicine knowledge and experience advises on this process from start to finish.

By following both of these prerequisites, Fort Bend Pets Alive! believes that the Katy Animal Shelter will reduce the burden of disease while they're at the shelter, and keep the animals healthy, happy, and more adoptable.

The organization also says dog and cat enrichment programs should be considered as well, because they can help the emotional well-being of the animals.

“Collectively our goal is to provide compassionate animal care, and to ensure every animal that has an encounter with Katy Animal Control is treated humanely, both in the field and in our kennel, and ultimately finds a permanent home,” stated Katy Police Department in a recent statement.

The Katy City Council will meet today, February 8 and is expected to discuss any concerns regarding the City’s animal shelter then.