Dallas Animal Services Sees Rise in Adoptions After Surge in Surrenders

Dallas Animal Services (DAS) is celebrating a historic increase in adoption rates for 2024, ranking as a top-five adoption center by volume in the country, but the shelter is still unable to control its capacity. 

“We’re incredibly proud of what this team has accomplished,” said Paul Ramon, director of DAS, in a press release. “These numbers represent thousands of lives saved and families made whole—and we’re just getting started.”

The shelter witnessed a 41% year-over-year increase in pet adoptions between 2023 and 2024. A grand total of 12,261 pets found their forever homes in 2024, 3,580 more than the year prior. According to shelter data, between January and May of this year, 4,353 pets were adopted.

According to data from Best Friends Animal Society, which tracks 4,000 shelters nationwide, DAS is the top-performing shelter in the state and fourth in the nation.

“DAS led Texas in total adoptions by a huge margin and was responsible for nearly 4% of the national increase in shelter adoptions — proof of what’s possible when a community comes together to save lives,” the shelter wrote in a social media post.

But the shelter is still grappling with an ongoing capacity issue.

As of June 30, 458 dogs shared 307 kennels, resulting in a capacity of 149%. The cat kennel is just slightly less occupied, at 139% capacity, or 132 cats spread across 95 kennels.

To deal with the continued capacity challenges, the shelter waived adoption fees, including for sterilization surgeries, microchipping and vaccinations, in March 2020 and has not reinstated them since. Pets at the shelter’s affiliate locations, like Petco, are also free to adopt.

Increased surrenders following the pandemic have been a point of concern for the shelter, which is looking for a way to explain the continued demand even while adoption rates increase.

“Our adoptions are up, our foster rescues are up, our transports are up. All of our outcomes are up,” Ramon told the City Council’s Public Safety Committee in May. “It’s just that the number of animals that are coming in from the community has increased. So year over year, that’s been an impact.”

To combat the issue, the shelter has temporarily stopped accepting surrendered animals. And now, the shelter will launch adoption initiatives to encourage Dallasites to take advantage of free adoption. DAS has announced its newest adoption summer program, “Mission Pawsible,” with the goal of getting 1,200 pets into homes.

“Dallas Animal Services is stepping up in a big way to save lives this summer,” said Sophia Proler, South Central Director for Best Friends Animal Society, in a press release. “At a time when shelters across Texas are overcrowded, this campaign is exactly the kind of creative, community-driven action that makes a real difference—and it’s why DAS led the state in adoptions in 2024.”

If you don’t have extra room in your house and in your heart for a new four-legged friend, DAS is also recruiting volunteers to “calm the canines” this Fourth of July. Volunteers are invited to sit outside the kennels and sing, read or talk to anxious dogs scared by the loud bangs of fireworks.

“Fireworks may be fun for us, but they’re terrifying for many of our pets,” said Victoria Chittam Bennett, Assistant Director at DAS, in a release. “This event helps reduce stress for the dogs and creates a special opportunity for the community to connect with our animals.”