
End Inhumane & Inconsistent Euthanasia Protocols at FWACC


Fort Worth Animal Care & Control (FWACC) is failing its animals and its community. Next to Brownsville, Texas, they have the highest kill rate in the country. Adoptable dogs: many just puppies, bonded pairs, and dog-friendly pets are being euthanized within 1–2 days of networking, meanwhile others are given weeks or even months. This broken system is killing animals that have the potential for rescue, foster, or adoption. We believe each adoptable friendly animal deserves the same chance. There is a lack of consistent protocol and efficient management of their euthanasia program.
Meanwhile, just 30 miles away, Dallas Animal Services (DAS) operates with a drastically higher live release rate, despite facing similar high intake numbers. DAS actively works with rescues, prioritizes networking, and has alternative solutions in place to reduce unnecessary euthanasia. So why is Fort Worth lagging behind?
What We Are Demanding:
1. Stop the mass euthanasia of adoptable dogs. FWACC recently euthanized 11+ young, friendly dogs, including bonded pairs and puppies, after just 1–2 days on the list. This is unacceptable.
2. Implement transparency in euthanasia decisions. Shelter must reintroduce the online system that showed which dogs were killed daily. The shelter must provide a public, detailed euthanasia list to approved rescues with enough time to coordinate lifesaving efforts.
3. Create a real rescue partner outreach program. Unlike DAS, FWACC has failed to build relationships with rescues, limiting dogs’ chances of being saved. A structured rescue partnership program must be implemented immediately. In fact they have banned and alienated many.
4. Ensure every alternative is exhausted before euthanasia. Other cities prioritize fostering, transfer programs, and community outreach. FWACC must shift toward a live release-focused model and stop treating euthanasia as the MAIN default option.
5. Hold FWACC accountable for killing dogs with confirmed rescue placement. Dogs like Gunner, Tanner, and others were euthanized despite having secured rescue commitments. This negligence cannot continue.
6. Develop stray population management strategies that don’t come at the cost of shelter dogs. FWACC puts all of its focus on stray intake, but fails to ensure the adoptable dogs already in the system get a fair chance. A balance must be found to prevent unnecessary killing.
7. If leadership refuses to make serious changes, including consistent and humane methods,and provide transparency around their current methods, then we demand new management that prioritizes live outcomes and actively collaborates with the rescue community and alternatives to Euthanasia. It’s our tax payer dollars funding this “humane euthanasia” afterall.
Dallas Animal Services Proves There’s a Better Way:
• DAS rarely euthanizes for space and actively works to keep dogs alive. FWACC, by contrast, euthanizes dogs even when space is available.
• DAS has a dedicated rescue liaison team ensuring dogs are networked properly. FWACC has no equivalent program.
• DAS utilizes large-scale foster initiatives and temporary housing to prevent unnecessary euthanasia. FWACC has failed to develop a similar strategy.
• DAS partners with local and out-of-state rescues, ensuring more placement options. FWACC continues to isolate itself from potential rescue support.
FWACC’s Shelter System is Failing. We Demand Reform NOW.
This is not just a shelter issue, it’s a city-wide failure. FWACC is taxpayer-funded, and we, the undersigned, refuse to continue funding inhumane, outdated, and ineffective shelter management practices. Once the shelter has shifted their inhumane protocols and lack of, we can work on local legislation.
Sign this petition to demand transparency, humane treatment, and real reform at Fort Worth Animal Care & Control. If management cannot provide transparency and updated humane protocols to lesson excessive euthanasia rates. If they refuse to work with the Rescue and networking community, then we declare that this management is not competent to be in charge of these dogs lives. Dallas animal shelters success and similarities prove that this is an upper management and director issue. Even Despite the obvious social and economical decline that is leading the dumping of dogs. The more signatures we get, the more the media and local government will be willing to take this travesty seriously. Please do it for the dogs. There’s 130+ on the euthanasia list in Fort Worth right now and there’s no way we can possibly save that many we need to implement new policies and build a partnership base with other shelters and rescues NOW. THIS IS A SILENT-REAL CRISIS‼️
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