El Paso Animal Services reports higher adoptions and surgeries, lower euthanasia; announces July spayathon

Interim Director Michael Wachsman told the City of El Paso Animal Shelter Advisory Committee on July 8 that June brought improved outcomes across operations, with higher adoptions, more surgeries and fewer euthanasias.

"We surpassed our goal — 864 adoptions — that is our second-best adoption number in 13 years," Wachsman said. He reported the department’s June live‑release rate was 84.63%, down slightly from the pandemic peak but up from last year’s 76.6%. Medical and behavior euthanasias have declined (behavior euthanasia fell from 48 last June to 27 this June), contributing to an overall euthanasia reduction of roughly 13%.

Wachsman said surgeries are trending upward: the department reported about 18,300 surgeries year to date, roughly 1,000 more than the prior year, and a revamped partnership with EPVMA completed 172 surgeries and now includes cats as well as dogs. "Maybe break 20,000," he said when asked whether additional internal reorganization could increase capacity.

Wachsman also reviewed intake patterns: stray intake rose about 5% in June, with 2,156 strays recorded; about 15.7% of intake came from outside city limits (including county jurisdictions). He described interlocal agreements that allow neighboring jurisdictions to transfer animals and said the shelter will accept animals from the public regardless of origin when space allows.

On foster program changes, Wachsman explained the committee’s foster figures were adjusted to remove in‑house neonatal counts, producing a clearer public foster number (~724). He described an "awaiting disposition" category (536 animals) used when staff are still verifying adoption or spay/neuter status before final outcome decisions.

Wachsman also announced a targeted TNR/spay and neuter event July 23–25 at the Mission Valley (Socorro) location; that site has been kept intentionally empty to avoid moves during the event. He said the upcoming event will be smaller than the largest spayathons (roughly 150 animals total, about 50 per day over three days) but larger budgeted events were being discussed in the context of external partnerships.

The director emphasized outreach work: canvassing, community events and volunteer support (3,641 volunteer hours in June) that aim to prevent surrenders and improve outcomes. He answered multiple committee questions on length‑of‑stay calculations, behavior evaluation steps before any behavior euthanasia and how staff manage transfer intakes from other jurisdictions.

Next steps: staff will add year‑to‑date figures to future slides and continue outreach to expand surgeries and foster conversions.