Animal shelter euthanasia policy

SMITH COUNTY — With local rescue groups’ demands for transparency following the euthanization of a dozen dogs, the Smith County Animal Shelter brought a set of updated policies to the Commissioners Court on Tuesday.

Pawsitive Place Rescue and Nicholas Pet Haven publicly criticized the recent euthanizations, saying the county failed to give rescue groups adequate notice or time to intervene, despite their past success in pulling dogs from the list

“We learned that multiple dogs at Smith County Animal Control were euthanized without any code red notification to rescues or the public,” Pawsitive Place Rescue said on Facebook. “No warning. No call for help. No chance for the community to step in and do what we have proven we can do when given the opportunity.”

At Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting, the animal shelter outlined updated policies on its tier system and euthanasia protocols, emphasizing that it operates as an open-intake facility.

Every animal is given a 72-hour hold upon arrival to the shelter, where they are given flea medicine but have minimal interaction with staff besides basic care. Following an evaluation after the three days, adult dogs are classified into the following two tiers:

Rescue/Reclaim Tier: Identified as having medical conditions that cannot be adequately treated at the shelter. The dogs are adoptable, but the shelter ensures adoptees are made aware of their conditions and medical needs.

Highly Adoptable Tier: Identified as highly adoptable per a high evaluation score. Animals in this tier will be fully vetted, heartworm-free and they will be spayed and neutered.

Smith County Animal Shelter Supervisor Colten Parsell explained at the commissioners’ court that the highly adoptable tier of animals is their main focus as a shelter. He also clarified that severely aggressive dogs aren’t considered in the tier system since they don’t make it out of the shelter because it’s a liability.

Parsell added that animals in the 72-hour intake list or the highly adoptable tier are not eligible for euthanasia, and that there’s no time limit for any animal at the shelter. “There’s no time limit for the length of stay for an animal that’s in the rescue tier — but when the back door opens and we have to bring in more dogs if we dont have space, it’s coming from there.”

Previously, sending out code red lists did not “provide the outcome that many people think it did,” Parsell clarified as the reason they stopped. It encouraged adoptions to be made “emotionally,” in which people would adopt animals to save them from being euthanized instead of because they wanted one.

The shelter’s capacity isn’t limited to a specific number of animals, but to kennels. Multiple puppies can be placed in one kennel. Additionally, the shelter clarified that no puppies are being euthanized because they are highly adoptable, with the exception of sicknesses such as parvo.

The success outcomes of the shelter have improved in the last year as well, according to Parsell. As an open intake facility, euthanasia is a part of its operations to make room for the animals they take in. Despite being an open intake facility, they have been able take in more animals this year while keeping a relatively low number of euthanizations compared to last year.

According to the shelter, they euthanized 18 dogs in April 2025, but have only euthanized 22 this April despite having taken in quadruple the amount. The shelter has been an open intake shelter for three weeks and has yet to face any capacity problems, but is open to adjusting policies again if issues arise.