AT-RISK PETS
Effective January 2024, El Paso Animal Services is releasing a list detailing the animals currently at risk of being euthanized due to medical, behavior or capacity reasons.
While some of the pets on this list will not be immediately euthanized, some may have a deadline for euthanasia due to medical or behavior factors. During times when the shelter’s capacity is at critical levels, some of the pets on the list will be euthanized if the shelter’s capacity is not sharply reduced. All of the animals on this list are available for immediate adoption, foster or rescue.
*This page is usually updated hourly*
ADOPTION PROCESS
If you are interested in adopting an at-risk pet, please visit the location of the animal, which can be found when clicking on the associated pet’s photo. For our locations and operational hours, visit our Contact Us page.
All pets on the at-risk list will have their adoption fees waived. All adoptions include:
- Spay/neuter surgery*
- Microchip with national registration via 24Hour PetWatch, and local registration via City of El Paso
- Age-appropriate vaccinations*
*Fee includes first distemper/parvo booster (given to all cats and dogs on intake) and rabies vaccination (if of age) with City license registration. For any dog/cat between 2 months and 1 year of age, two additional distemper/parvo boosters will be required. Removal of spay/neuter sutures may be required depending on animal age/gender.
FOSTER PROCESS
If you are unable to adopt an at-risk pet, but you can provide a temporary home, fostering is a great option! Fostering is completely free, and we will provide all the food, necessary supplies and medical care needed to care for your foster—you just provide them with a temporary home.
To learn more about our foster program, and for answers to frequently asked questions, visit our Foster page. If you are able to foster an at-risk pet on this list, please email our foster team at EPASfoster@elpasotexas.gov and include the pet’s animal number (which starts with the letter ‘A’).
RESCUE PROCESS
If you are with an approved Rescue partner with El Paso Animal Services, and you are interested in pulling one of the pets on the at-risk list, please email our Rescue Coordinator at youngke@elpasotexas.gov.
If you are with a rescue organization and are not currently an El Paso Animal Services approved Rescue partner, you can find out more information about our application process on our Rescue page.
FAQs
El Paso Animal Services will explore all options to provide any pet that is healthy, treatable and/or behaviorally sound a lifesaving outcome. We work with numerous local, national and international rescue organizations, as well as promote our pets for adoption and foster. Any pet that is added to the ‘At-Risk’ list has generally already had numerous lifesaving mediation efforts prior to being added to the list, and this is their final call.
El Paso Animal Services began working toward making the shelter no-kill in 2016 after the Mayor and City Council approved the Shelter Reform Plan, and has reached as high as an 86% live-release rate since then. However, as an open-admission shelter that cares for roughly 20.000 animals a year, we are 100% dependent on the community and our partners to help save lives. While we work hard to find a home for all adoptable pets, several factors contribute to the need of humanely euthanizing, such as an animal’s physical and mental health, behavior, amount of space available in the shelter and the exhaustion of other lifesaving placements. Our primary goal will always be to find a life-saving outcome for the animals that come into the shelter, and we only euthanize pets when all other placement, medical or risk-mitigating options have been exhausted, and there is an immediate need for capacity.
A great way to help any of our At-Risk pets is by sharing them with your friends, family, coworkers, anyone in your network! You never know if someone you know might be able to help save a life.
Many of our At-Risk pets are also labeled as so due to their mental health declining. If you’re unable to foster or adopt, we are always in need of volunteers to help provide the extra love, care and attention these pets need while they are in our care. To sign up to volunteer, visit our Volunteer page.
- Medical: This means the animal has some sort of medical condition, which can either be illness, injury or special medical needs due to age or chronic medical conditions.
- Behavior: This means that the animal is displaying some sort of behavior challenges that are not deemed to be a public danger, but can escalate in stressful shelter settings.
- Behavior Declining: This means the animal is experiencing some mental decline, which can be extremely worrisome for the animal’s wellbeing after prolong periods. Some examples of behavior declining can include, but are not limited to—self mutilation, depression, not eating, and etc.
- Capacity: This means that due to an urgent need for space, some animals might be selected to be added to the At-Risk list.
DEADLINES
Animals that are added to the At-Risk list will have a deadline of two weeks or less, and deadlines are subject to change based on the animal’s physical or mental health. If you are considering adopting, fostering or pulling an animal on this list, please contact us immediately by emailing us at EPASatrisk@elpasotexas.gov and provide the animal’s ID number that starts with the letter ‘A’.