Highland Village outlines animal-shelter changes after parvo outbreaks, pauses surrenders

Highland Village officials gave a detailed update on animal services on Feb. 11, describing recent investments in the city shelter, a temporary halt to owner surrenders after three parvo outbreaks, continued use of an outside kennel service for cleaning and overflow, and the city’s efforts to limit onward transfers of hard-to-adopt animals.

The report, delivered by the city’s animal‑services presenter identified in the session as Steve, said the shelter has capacity for about 10 dogs and 14 cats. Steve said the city pays $233,574 out of the police‑department budget for animal‑services expenses (about 4% of that department budget) and that $53,000 was budgeted for contracted shelter services; the annual contract value with the vendor All American Dogs was given as about $45,074 per year. He said the city has paused accepting owner surrenders since March 2024 after three parvo outbreaks and to reduce overcrowding; intake numbers dropped notably after that suspension.

Why the pause matters: the presenter said parvo outbreaks and related animal deaths prompted the change. He…