President’s Corner 6.22.24
,
I’d like to start off this inaugural President’s Corner by saying thank you! Thank you for being here. Thank you for supporting NTASR. Thank you for choosing to adopt, foster, and donate to help us do what we were created to do. Thank you for joining me on this crazy ride that is rescue.
When I started NTASR in December of 2020, I had no idea what was ahead of me. I had plans to grow slowly and do things right. I had seen the sides of rescue that were broken and corrupt. All I wanted to do was help make a change in the lives of helpless animals.
What I didn’t know was that in just one short year, the animal crisis I was seeing in Texas was not only going to get worse but would explode across the entire state in a way that would make me really sit down and think about what came next for NTASR. It became evident that not only was I going to have to shift the direction NTASR was taking, but also start to consider what it looked like long-term to commit to the kinds of things that would be required to actually make an impact not only in DFW and North Texas but across the state as a whole. I wish I could say that it’s gotten better, but it hasn’t. Shelters are at over 150% capacity and are having to euthanize perfectly healthy and happy animals every day for space. Rescues are closing their doors permanently because the funds needed to keep going just aren’t coming in. Families are having to make choices between being able to feed their families or affording the cost of pet care basics like food or vaccinations. There are so many ways to help, but simply not enough people helping.
In 2024 alone, we have seen an 83% increase in intake requests. That doesn’t include shelters calling, breeders calling, strays being found, or our veterinary partners calling us for help. Those numbers are based on reporting that we have submitted over the course of four years to national animal care databases, which are looking specifically into trends and patterns across the country in animal abandonment. Last year, we were inundated by owner surrender requests so much so that we had to turn off our owner surrender form on the website and close public intake because we simply just couldn’t keep up. Recently, we have reactivated the form, and again the requests are overwhelming. We need our NTASR community to come together to help us make the changes that need to be made locally and beyond so that we can challenge the status quo of animals being disposable.
In March of 2024, NTASR was involved in a large-scale puppy mill bust in Oklahoma. The Humane Society of the United States and I worked very closely for five years to document and photograph the property, the conditions, and the lack of care. The end result was 250 dogs, cats, and pigs being removed from two properties. Several of those animals will be coming into our program, and we’re going to need your support more than ever to ensure that they get the love and care they deserve while we get them ready for their forever homes. Most of these animals have until recently never been touched by humans or spent any time outside of a nasty outdoor dirt run. They were not fed routinely, and food would often be moldy on the ground, with zero veterinary care or socialization. Their water, if there was any, was dirty and often had dead rodents floating in it. They didn’t have shelter to protect them from the extreme summer heat, cold winters, or severe storms. How can we turn our backs on them now when they have been through so much at the hands of the very people who were supposed to love and protect them?
We are in a crisis, and it’s my intention to stand up and make the collective NTASR voice heard. This fall, my administrative team and I will be forming a task force to start looking at legislative changes. While we have very little experience individually, we know that with the help of our NTASR community, we can and will make a difference in the lives of the animals who are not able to speak for themselves. We’re going to need your help to get this done. We’ll need your voices, your signatures, your donations, and your time. I know we ask for money a lot, and I know it can be annoying, but I also know that every single dollar goes to the progress that is being made to change the lives of our furry friends for the better.
I don’t have all the answers, but I do have a team that is willing to get in the trenches and dig alongside me until we find the other side. You are NTASR, and my team and I would love to have you join us in whatever capacity you are able because together we are unstoppable.
Until next time, rub the bellies, boop the snoots, and give the fur-babies kisses for me.
Best,
Samantha Anderson
President
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