Denise Parker with a “resident”

Last year 20,000 cats and dogs ended up at the Humane Society of Montgomery County. Only 3,000 of them found homes. Executive Director Denise Parker says, “The other ones, we like to say, went to puppy heaven: 17,000 were euthanized humanely.”

When compared with Montgomery County’s human population of 300,000, the number of discarded or lost animals in the area makes it clear that pet overpopulation is a significant problem. Ms. Parker explains, “One female dog and her offspring in six years can produce 67,000 puppies. Cats are even worse. One cat and her offspring in six years can give birth to 420,000 kittens. The trouble is that I end up with some of those puppies and kittens. Spaying or neutering a pet is essential.

“People need to realize that having a pet is a 15- to 20-year commitment,” she continues. “It’s not only an emotional commitment, it’s also a financial commitment. And lifestyles can change. What may seem like a great decision today, may not seem so great in 10 years. Having a pet changes your life completely. You can’t just pick up and travel, and you can’t pick up and go out at night if your animal has been in a crate all day.”

Ms. Parker believes education will help solve the problem. She says, “If we can educate children at an early age about being responsible pet owners, then we stand a better chance in the future of having a community where we don’t have 20,000 unwanted animals each year.” To help create the future Ms. Parker envisions, the Humane Society hired an educator who made presentations this past year in almost every first- through sixth-grade classroom in Montgomery County.

In addition to performing community outreach and operating the shelter in Conroe and a small adoption center at the local PetSmart, the Humane Society also leases space in the new Montgomery County Animal Control facility, where it offers pet adoption services. “Our shelter was built to house 8,000 animals, not 20,000,” says Ms. Parker. “So I went to the County and said, ‘I have to see 12 60-pound animals in a 4x6 kennel, and I’m supposed to go home and sleep at night? You have to step up to the plate.’

“We proposed that we refurbish and expand our facility, but instead they built a new facility,” she continues. “Although we’re working together to decrease pet overpopulation, we’re a completely not-for-profit organization solely supported by donations, grants and our animal control contracts with three small cities.”

While the number of pets housed at the Humane Society’s Conroe shelter has become more manageable since the county facility opened 15 miles away, the ratio of pets that leave through the front door instead of the back has not changed. The facility is filled to capacity from its animal control contracts with Willis, Conroe and San Jacinto and from the dozen or so pets that are relinquished voluntarily each day by their owners. Ms. Parker repeats, “It’s going to take education and low-cost spaying and neutering to solve this heartbreaking problem. Some days I can’t go in the kennel area because it’s just too painful. I didn’t have any animals when I first came here, but I adopted four within six months. I know that may be extreme, but animals give you love unconditionally. It’s been shown that when animals are placed in nursing homes, the residents flourish because they have something to care for and something that loves them, that sleeps with them at night and makes them feel needed.”

When asked how she copes with the deaths of so many loving but desperate animals Ms. Parker says, “For every hard moment here, there’s a happy moment. Seeing a lost animal go home with its owner, seeing an animal that was adopted as a puppy come back to be spayed or neutered when it’s a little bit older or receiving a letter that thanks you for the best thing that’s ever happened in someone’s life makes it worthwhile. For every sad moment, there’s a happy one.”

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