SMITH COUNTY, Texas — The Smith County Animal Control are struggling to keep up with the increase in the number of animal calls in recent months.
Supervisor Amber Greene said they get 20 to 60 calls everyday, which have reached an all-time high. Currently, they only have four animal control officers to cover 964 square miles, making it difficult to answer all the calls.
"I have been doing this for almost 13 years and this is (by) far the worst year that I've seen on the calls on stray animals," Greene said.
She believes inflation has played a major role in the increase of stray animals in Smith County. And pet owners are having to make tough decisions when it comes to paying a bill or feeding their pet.
Greene said if you’re asking yourself that question, the best thing to do is to reach out to rescue shelters. But instead, Greene said people are doing the opposite.
"They're taking the animals out on a country road to dump (them). And people call us to come pick (them) up," Greene said.
The animal shelter's capacity is 56 animals. Smith County Judge Neal Franklin said the county is doing its best to respond to the increase in demand.
"We've tried to adjust hours and different things like that part-time help (and) we've tried to adjust the pay. Hopefully that will help as well," Franklin said.
Greene said she needs an extra set of hands. She’s asking for more resources as the county sets its budget.
"We're asking for an additional animal patrol officer position to kind of help alleviate some of this strain that the four officers covering 964 square miles have," Greene said.
Green said the shelter also accepts volunteers and if you can’t adopt, you can foster.
"You're also saving not just that dog that you're fostering, you're saving the life of the dog that comes into replace it in the shelter," Greene said.
Greene suggests if you have a pet, getting them spayed or neutered can help those issues as well.