SAN ANGELO, Texas — San Angelo's Concho Valley PAWS is limited to a certain amount of kennel space.
On Dec. 18, the shelter officially reached its capacity, putting 25 dogs at risk of euthanasia. As of Dec. 20, five of the dogs have been adopted, leaving 20 in need of foster care or a permanent home.
"They're all very good dogs," PAWS executive director Jenie Wilson said. "They've all participated in supervised play group."
The 20 available dogs are all larger breeds - either shepherd or pit bull mixes- which will be euthanized if they are not out of the shelter 5 p.m. Dec. 21, 3134 U.S. Hwy 67N.
According to Wilson, each of the dogs are spayed/neutered, microchipped and vaccinated and are suitable for homes with other dogs and/or children, making them ready for immediate adoption.
Previously, the euthanasia list has typically included six to nine dogs at a time, all of which have been fostered or adopted. This is the largest list the shelter has seen and with the holidays right around the corner, the challenge to find forever homes has now been amplified.
"There is literally no safety net for these dogs and that's what's kind of scary to us," Wilson said.
To help encourage adoptions, San Angelo dog training organization Love N' Leashes is offering free group obedience classes for each of the dogs on the list.
For Wilson, the main goal at the moment is to help find these dogs a home for the holidays.
"What a beautiful thing to do at Christmas to save an animal so we hope the community's gonna step up in a big way," she said. "We know there are people out there that care, we see them comment on Facebook all the time so this is an opportunity for those people to kind of step out and do something even bigger at Christmas and really make a difference."
Each of the available dogs is shown here and from Penzey to Nugget, there is a new friend for everyone.
