LOCKHART, Texas — The Lockhart Animal Shelter recently faced a "code red" situation, meaning it had too many dogs and not enough kennel space. About 80 dogs occupied the shelter, which only has 52 kennels.
The Lockhart Animal Shelter strives to operate as a no-kill facility, but maintaining that can be easier said than done.
"We had about 80 dogs and 52 kennels,” said Monica Parra with the Lockhart Animal Shelter. “It was crazy."
"We had so many dogs in here, we had them stashed in the office, we had them stashed all over the building," said volunteer Amy Baxter.
Overwhelmed with the sheer number of dogs, volunteers prepared for the worst.
"We just had made a decision that we're probably going to have to euthanize a bunch of our favorite dogs,” Baxter said. “We had all kind of talked about it and kind of had a list going, and we were just very sad about it."
The shelter put out a plea to the community hoping for some relief, not expecting what happened a few days later.
"They came over the weekend and helped us out tremendously by getting 20 dogs adopted on Saturday and 15 dogs adopted on Sunday," Parra said.
Thirty-five dogs adopted in two days is essentially unheard of for this small town shelter.
"It was an amazing thing to see, I mean I get goosebumps thinking about it,” said Parra. “It was just amazing how the community came together as one and just helped us out."
The sight of multiple empty kennels is exactly what the Lockhart animal shelter hoped to see.
Though the crisis is averted for now, there are still plenty of dogs left waiting for their forever home.
"We have so many great dogs here,” said Baxter. “If I can just get a few out, if we can just save a few dogs and cats, we're good."
An overwhelming response that's restored their faith.
"You kind of forget that there are still a lot of people that really care and want to help, and they all showed up and helped us," said Baxter. “I don't even know how to thank them all."