7:30 a.m.
The metal carts rolling down the spotless hallway send tails wagging in the air as the dogs wake and stretch. The smell of dog food that is slowly dispersed into each pen causes a chorus of barks. The 30 dogs that are on display at the SPCA of Texas are all awake. Maybe today will be their lucky day.
Blue, a recent rescue case, eats his breakfast in his den alone. The SPCA has an investigative team that works with law enforcement to rescue animals that are in unsuitable homes.
Next door to Blue are two black Labradors, Allie and Amy, who are “bonded” – meaning they are a package for adoption and cannot be separated. They eat their breakfast quickly and then play with their toys, politely sitting in front of the glass every once in a while. To make them more adoptable, they’ve been trained not to jump up on the window when people come near. The feeder smiles encouragingly and says “Good sit!” to the dogs as he passes by.
The food cart makes its way to the “puppy pod.” The young dogs in the facility are segregated until they complete all the rounds of their vaccinations. The pod has eight individual dens, each housing one to three adorable puppies.
On the other side of the facility is the “cat rotunda.” Food is available but, in comparison to the dogs’ excitement, the cats seem only interested in grooming themselves. They’re preparing, hoping to be taken to a new home today.
9 a.m.
It’s time for the SPCA staff to clean out the dogs’ dens – which means it’s playtime for the dogs.
Each pod, a group of eight dog pens, goes out one by one. The groups are eight to 14 dogs. The adult groups are taken to a fenced field where volunteers throw tennis balls and the dogs socialize with each other. Volunteers go through over 15 hours of training to follow procedures suggested by the behavior department.
“It’s confusing for dogs to hear ‘sit’ in eight different ways,” Lacy Ball, the SPCA’s communications specialist said. “So they’re trained to treat all the dogs the same way. Volunteers go through a lot of training, but it makes the pets more adoptable and their time here less stressful.” Currently this location has about 500 volunteers.
The puppies, which can’t yet play in the grass, are taken to artificial turf pens. The pens are extremely clean – especially considering their purpose. And they are plenty large enough for the small pups to burn off some energy. The turf is immediately sanitized with a power washer when the puppies are back inside.
While the dogs play outside, the staff disinfects each den. The blankets the dogs slept on last night are replaced with new ones, some rubber chew toys are filled with peanut butter. A treat is left in each den as a surprise for the dog when it gets inside.
11 a.m.
Finally all the dogs are back in their individual dens. Some of them eat the treats that were left for them and settle down on their fresh blanket. Others bury the treats in their blankets. But within 15 minutes, the facility gets very quiet. All the dogs take an afternoon nap and the SPCA staff heads to lunch.
This Dallas SPCA location is brand new – it opened Jan. 2, 2012. The facility is spotless and, according to Ball, was built specifically with the animals in mind.
“We have all the latest and greatest technology as far as medical care goes,” she said.
The best part about this new facility, Ball says, is the veterinary clinic that is right next door to the adoption center. In the old location animals had to be transported from a clinic to the shelter which was inefficient and stressful for the pets. In this new location the operating suite for spay/neuter surgeries is right next door which allows the SPCA to provide better care for the animals.
Noon
It’s time. The SPCA is open for visitors. The well-trained dogs sit politely in their dens, looking out the large glass window for their first potential family. The not-so-well trained dogs jump excitedly on the glass, anxious to see a friendly face.
As families walk around the four pods, dogs bark, whine and play. The humans laugh, sigh and smile.
One family takes an interest in Gretchen, an eight-month-old brown and white terrier. An adoption counselor takes them into a meet and greet room with Gretchen. Inside the room Gretchen eagerly greets and plays with each member of the family, as the parents and the adoption counselor discuss the dog. The family’s lifestyle is discussed, as well as what the dog’s needs are. Gretchen seems to be getting along well with the family and both sides agree it’s a good fit. The family decides they will go home and think about it. They promise to come back, but Gretchen’s demeanor as she is led back to her lonely den shows that she didn’t understand that promise.
In the cat rotunda some are looking a little more lively, but despite their visitors, most of the cats are lounging in the rays coming through the large windows in their “condos.” The cat rotunda is a “mini Dallas,” Ball laughs. “Most cats live in a community condo, but cats that are better off solo live in lofts and apartments.”
3 p.m.
After a few long hours of visitation, the dogs are taken back outside pod by pod. Again, the SPCA staff disinfects all the dens and leaves new treats for the dogs while a new shift of volunteers play with dogs outside. After business is taken care of inside and out, all dogs are back in their dens again, eager for more visitors.
Interested adopters come in and out. Dogs are taken into meet and greet rooms but no one seems to be able to complete an adoption today. It’s a weekday though; most of the SPCA’s adoptions occur on Saturday and Sunday so it’s not unusual that there hasn’t been an adoption today.
In another part of the building is the surrender office. Two families have reservations to come in today to surrender their pets. One young dog is turned in by a family who “didn’t know what a responsibility it was going to be.” A cat is surrendered by a couple who give no explanation. Two-thirds of the over 250 animals in the shelter were given up by their owners. The remaining third are transfers from other shelters or are rescues.
6 p.m.
Closing time. There were no adoptions today, but there were a few families who promised to discuss the decision and come back. The dogs, exhausted from their long day of trying to look cute and adoptable, lay down on their blankets. So today wasn’t their lucky day. But the weekend, which always promises adoptions, is coming. Their tails softly wag as they drift to sleep. Maybe their dreaming of a new home.
