Shelter capacity may force dogs to be euthanized

We would like to introduce you to a little brown dog with a squeak toy in her mouth but we don't know her name. She doesn't even have one. The former stray dog did catch the eye of Leslie Selmser who drove all the way from Kingwood just to meet her.

"My husband and I are in love with her and we are going to take her and introduce her to our two dogs," says Seimser. "We love dogs and will do anything to save one." That's a good thing since she was one of the possibly-doomed dogs at the shelter.

Strays have been coming in lately to the Fort Bend Animal Services at a much faster rate than normal -- 90 in the last two weeks while the official capacity is just 78, according to the shelter.

"If we can't find a home for them, we are going to have to do what we are loathed to do -- euthanize for time and space, which is something we haven't had to do for a very long time," explains Barbara Vass with Fort Bend Animal Services.

Every kennel is full right now. Some dogs are in portable crates in the shelter hallways. One dog not going back into her kennel is our girl without a name. She is going home, to her new home, hopefully, her forever home in Kingwood.

"We are really proud to have her as part of our family," says Semser. "She's going to bring us years of happiness."

FOX 26 News is focusing on Fort Bend Animal Services in this case, but the problem is the same at every shelter in the Houston area. For some reason, no one seems to know why there is a huge influx of stray animals. The best way to prevent any dogs from going to doggy death row is to spay and neuter your pets and also get them microchipped in case they escape.