By Rebecca Lackie

Special to the Pflag

Lissa Slovacek and the Pflugerville Pfurry Pfriends are aiming to make sure the City of Pflugerville Animal Shelter doesn’t get overlooked.

One of the four founders of the organization, Slovacek with the Pfurry Pfriends has been on a mission to bring awareness to the plight of the animals who often get swept aside, as bigger issues are being solved within the city.

In the last eight months that the organization has been in existence, Pfurry Pfriends have worked on raising money for heating and air conditioning in the little shelter at 1600 Waterbrook Drive, have improved the dog runs for the animals, started a fostering program, and have held numerous fundraisers as well.

Over the summer, Slovacek said, the shelter’s extreme heat was really affecting the animals.

“Some of the dogs, they can take it pretty decent, but we had some cats this summer that were just panting, and cats don’t normally do that,” Slovacek explained. “It’s hard to get the money, but it’s necessary. Animals deserve the basics, a roof over their head, heat and air conditioning, water and food.”

That is just one of the reasons that Pfurry Pfriends have stepped in as a voice for the city’s animals.

“We’ve gotten a lot of animals adopted since we’ve been around,” said Slovacek. “But we have a lot of owner surrenders. I don’t think people realize how bad it is.”

According to Slovacek, the shelter, which is tiny in comparison to the surrounding cities’ shelters, is dealing with overcrowding, lack of staffing and organizational issues. Currently the Pflugerville Police Department has two fulltime animal control officers and two part-time officers, but there is not a manager on staff at the facility to organize or plan what needs to get done.

Because of this, Slovacek says that well-intended ACOs are overworked and often out of the office dealing with calls, leaving nobody there to answer the phone, schedule animal adoptions, organize the shelter, or deal with any issues that might arise.

“The animal shelter is a project that has always come under scrutiny by our animal rights advocates,” said Victor Gonzales, Pflugerville mayor pro tem. “While the shelter today is a far cry from what it was once upon a time, in the near future Pflugerville will need to address a better facility.”

“What is really needed is a new shelter, but the city doesn’t have the money for that in the budget,” explained Slovacek. “Because of that, we are trying to make the current shelter the best it can be.”

According to Gonzales, a new shelter could cost Pflugerville somewhere between $1 million and $5 million, depending upon size.

“The overwhelming challenge would not be building it, but staffing and running a major animal shelter which would have a recurring administrative budget,” Gonzales said.

Yet, in spite of the current challenges, Pfurry Pfriends, and the Pflugerville animal control officers say they are doing their best to deal with the frustrating task of operating under less than ideal circumstances. They have been creating visibility for the shelter, organizing pet fosters for as many of the animals on the euthanasia list as possible, and have been helping with medical care costs not currently covered by the shelter, such as heartworm treatments. They have also had fundraisers and adoption fairs at places like Petco and PetSmart as well.

Yet Slovacek says the biggest help would be for owners to either get their pets microchipped, or at least get updated animal tags with current phone numbers, so owners can be located.

“It is really not an animal problem, it is a responsibility,” stated Gonzales. “If someone agrees to become a pet owner they must take on the responsibilities of pet ownership. An animal shelter should never be an alternative for dumping a pet. That is just wrong.”

Slovacek is hoping that if people know about the shelter’s plight, they will be less apt to surrender animals, but will try to find new homes for their pets instead.

“Things are getting better slowly but surely,” said Slovacek. “But with Pflugerville growing, things have to change.”

For more information on pet adoptions, contact Pflugerville Animal Control at 990-7387.