Charity Fegenbush knows when she rolls into work Monday, the animals being brought into the Kendall County Animal Shelter for the week will vastly outnumber the pets being adopted.
As the county shelter coordinator, it’s Fegenbush’s job to oversee intakes — whether by impound, drop-offs or owner-surrenders — the stray population for Kendall County.
But that’s harder to do when you have no room.
“We are the fullest we’ve ever been,” Fegenbush said last week. “We’re one of the only open-admission facilities left in the area. San Antonio, Boerne, Kerrville, all are raising their surrender fees … and many have wait lists for surrendering animals.”
The shelter has 52 kennels for dogs and 30 cat cages. Those continue to fill rapidly and Fegenbush dreads the day when she has to consider putting down healthy, adoptable dogs in order to fulfill the shelter’s role as the county collection point.
The shelter, situated on FM 289 just off Interstate 10 outside Comfort, serves all 663 square miles of the county, which can sometimes be a daunting task for Fegenbush and her crew.
In June, the shelter impounded 39 dogs, 13 pick-ups and 26 dropoffs. Only 10 of the shelter’s more adoptable dogs went home with new owners.
That upside-down rate has been a trend all year: 2024 has seen 220 dogs brought in and only 49 adoptions. The shelter cat situation is even more dire, with 401 impounds and only 65 adoptions for the year.
In May the shelter took in 100 cats and had to put down 70 because the cats “were completely feral,” she said. “They’re wild cats that have never been touched before. There’s not really anything we can do with them. They’re not adoptable.”
Similarly, the shelter receives dogs that are hyper-aggressive dogs: “They’ve never been on a leash and never socialized, they may have killed cats, other dogs or livestock, rendering most of them as unadoptable, as well,” she added.
Over the past two months, the shelter brought in 89 dogs but only 18 were adopted. Twenty-nine were euthanized, she said, most being hyper-aggressive or unable to be blended with other animals.
“There are some who do well in kennels, and last five to six months and do just fine,” said Fegenbush, who has been the shelter coordinator for the past nine years, having spent almost 20 in the animal care field.
“But there are other dogs, especially your large, really active breeds, they deteriorate so fast in a kennel. Within a month of being in a kennel they are bouncing off the walls, doing repetitive behavior, going kennel-crazy,” she said.
To attempt to invigorate adoptions, Fegenbush is dropping the shelter adoption fees — from $90 for dogs to $25, and from $60 for cats, to free, no fee.
“I’m always willing to work with the adoption fees,” she said. “We’re never going to get back all the money we put into these animals. This is not a business operating for profit, not even close. Just for the spay or neuter alone, we’re paying over $100 each.”
Animals adopted from the shelter are “vet-ready,” she said — fully vaccinated, spayed/neutered, microchipped and tested for heartworms, cats for FID and FELD.
Fegenbush works with two primary rescues in the area: Hay Dude Critter Rescue, a local rescue, and SPCA in Fredericksburg. “They’ve been pulling a lot from us lately, because they seem to be having really good luck on adoptions.”
The shelter is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Families considering adopting can go to the shelter’s Facebook page and file through the dozens of cats and dogs that are waiting for a forever home.
“At the end of the day, we don’t want to put anything down. We don’t want to euthanize any animal,” she said.
For directions or information on adopting, fostering or volunteering, call Fegenbush at 830-537-3430.