Today is National Rescue Dog Day and the Midland community celebrates 139 dogs saved after a significant canine distemper outbreak at the Midland Animal Shelter in March. What could have resulted in unnecessary killing due to potential exposure to the highly contagious and often deadly virus instead led to an outpouring of lifesaving support from both community members, as well as local and national animal welfare organizations, to include Fix West Texas and Best Friends Animal Society, a leading animal welfare organization working to end the killing of cats and dogs in America’s shelters in 2025.
To avoid killing dogs that have a chance to live, Fix West Texas issued a plea for fosters willing to temporarily open their home to help a dog and within a matter of hours 90 community members responded. “This life-saving effort helped our City Leaders see first-hand that our entire community cares about the fate of our shelter animals,” Karen Patterson, Executive Director, Fix West Texas, said in a news release. “We hope this will open the door to our city continuing to seek help, in lieu of euthanizing.”
Best Friends provided Fix West Texas with a $5,000 grant to help cover medical expenses of impacted dogs. “We are grateful to our local partners and to the Midland community for rallying to save every dog that could be saved,” Sophia Proler, South Central Director, Best Friends Animal Society, said in the release. “It is through this collective effort that not only did these dogs have the opportunity to recover and thrive in foster homes, but 35 of them have been adopted by Midland residents.”
A remaining 72 dogs who survived the distemper outbreak, like Bailey, are in temporary foster homes and are available to adopt. For more information or to view adoptable dogs visit, www.fixwesttexas.org/adopt.
To learn more about how to get involved and Best Friends, visit bestfriends.org.
