Pet Support and Resource Center

The award-winning partnership program between the City of Dallas, Dallas Animal Services (DAS), and Spay Neuter Network (SNN) addresses feral cat issues, provides resources to keep pets in their homes, helps pet owners rehome their pets, or routes pets directly to rescue groups for quicker adoptions.

In the future, SNN plans to share and evolve this unique program with interested animal groups all across the nation. Dallas Pets Alive! and SNN have already partnered to develop technology to streamline medical assistance and aid to keep pets in their homes or find fosters in real time so pets never enter the shelter. Details about this new program will be released soon.

Through the partnership with the City of Dallas and DAS, SNN agreed to take over ALL of the City of Dallas’ 311 calls, beginning in April 2020, from pet owners wanting to surrender their pets and loose cat calls. By addressing community/feral cat issues, providing resources to keep pets in their homes, helping pet owners rehome their pets, or routing pets directly to rescue groups for quicker adoptions, the new Call Center would bring on the next level in lifesaving in Dallas by trying to keep pets out of the city shelter as much as possible.

Spay Neuter Network has been recognized with the 2020 LIFESAVING AWARD for Collective Impact from Best Friends Animal Society, a national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters. This award is for demonstrating outstanding ability to support fellow partners and working collaboratively toward a common goal. Specifically, SNN’s new Pet Support and Resource call center, which is helping to lower pet surrender levels by helping owners get the resources they need to keep their pets, helping them rehome their pets or diverting pets to appropriate rescues for faster adoptions keeping shelter intake down.

Success Stories

Petey

Petey, was scheduled for surrender at DAS due to his owner no longer having time to care for him and moving. Dallas Pets Alive! stepped in to foster Petey, who is 12 years old. He needed some medical treatment and dental work, which was completed quickly. In less than a month, Petey found his forever home with Debra!

Whisper

Whisper was found as a stray, and her finder couldn’t keep her, so a surrender appointment was made at DAS. But, before that could happen, she was tagged from the Pet Support and Resource Center board by One by One Pet Rescue. She has since been adopted by a wonderful family and even has a younger pup to play with!

Franklin

Franklin, an eight-year-old terrier mix, was being surrendered to Dallas Animal Services by his family. They had young children and worked full-time jobs and had no extra time or attention to give the dog. When they called 311, they were connected to our Pet Resource and Support Center. We placed Franklin on our Rescue Board, and a rescue group scooped up Franklin almost immediately. During his pre-adoption veterinary evaluation, we discovered Franklin had bladder stones. We made sure he was treated for the bladder stones as well as neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped. He also received a dental cleaning. It’s hard to rehome an older pet, but rescue groups often have more time than the city shelter to find dogs’ new homes. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Franklin to find a new family who had time to love him.

Joey

Conner found a two-year-old terrier roaming his neighborhood. He picked up the dog and put up fliers in the hopes of finding the dog’s owner. No one called. Conner’s family fell in love with “Joey,” but he said Joey and the other pets in the home weren’t getting along. When he called 311 to surrender Joey to Dallas Animal Services, he was routed to Spay Neuter Network’s Pet Resource and Support Center. We placed Joey on our Rescue Board to see if a rescue group could find Joey a home. A rescue group stepped up to help Joey right away. So, we neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped him in preparation for his transfer to the rescue group. Within a week, Joey had a new home with a family that adores him. Because Conner held onto Joey until a rescue group stepped up, Joey didn’t have to go to the city shelter

Corndog

When a young man called the City of Dallas’ 311, Spay Neuter Network’s Pet Resource and Support Center answered. He had a five-year-old retriever named Corn Dog, and said he was moving and couldn’t take the dog with him. We asked if anyone in the family could take the dog, but he said his mom didn’t want to take care of the dog once he moved out. This is heartbreaking for us because it’s always challenging to find a home for an older dog. Through our Pet Resource and Support Center though, we strive to help people keep their pets, offer advice on rehoming them, or offer to place them with a rescue group so they can bypass the stress of going to the city animal shelter. In this instance, the family wanted us to find him a new home for Corndog, so we put him on our Rescue Board and are happy to say he was adopted by an incredible family with lots of land for him to run around on.