HOW TO HELP
ADOPT Individuals can browse adoptable cats and dogs on the PAWS website. FOSTER While adopting is a lifelong commitment, fostering can be a helpful way to save the life of an animal and open up space in the shelter. VOLUNTEER As a private, nonpro t organization, volunteers are essential to keep the shelter running through: dog walking, animal enrichment, data entry, coordinating fosters, fundraising, transporting animals and more. DONATE The marquee in front of the shelter often has items that are needed, or monetary donations are accepted and go a longer way than supplies, according to Hilburn.
“WE ARE A NO KILL SHELTER , SO THESE ANIMALS ARE GOING TO STAY WITH US UNTIL THEY FIND THEIR FOREVER HOME.” MELODY HILBURN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NONPROFIT
Executive Director Melody Hilburn has been involved with PAWS since 1999. (Photos by Zara Flores/Community Impact)
PAWS Shelter of Central Texas Private nonpro t provides enrichment to shelter animals M iriam McCoy of the McCoy’s Building Supply family came across a stray dog near her San Marcos home in the 1980s. BY ZARA FLORES
The shelter itself, which reopened in August following renovations, has cats on one side of the shelter and dogs on the other, coined “Cat City” and “Dog Town.” Cat City is decked out with outdoor patios that are enclosed for safety but allow cats to roam freely. Dog Town has new kennel gates and outdoor play areas. The sta focus heavily on providing enrichment to the animals and spending time with them outside of kennels. “We are [a] no-kill [shelter], so these animals are going to stay with us until they nd their forever home,” Hilburn said. During the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, the shelter was able to place animals in foster homes with ease, according to Foster Coordinator Jenny Jenkins. With somewhat of a return to normalcy, and people out and about once again, it is starting to get harder to nd fosters, Jenkins said. “It’s a business where you want to go out of business, but you never do,” Hilburn said.
Unsure of what to do, she called the sheri ’s o ce, which o ered to send someone to eutha- nize the dog. Adamantly opposed to it, she created the Public for Animal Welfare Shelter, now dubbed PAWS Shelter of Central Texas, a nonpro t shelter with locations in Kyle and Dripping Springs. “What we try to do is go to facilities and pull the animals there that are on the ‘hit list,’ and we pull every week from all over Central Texas,” Executive Director Melody Hilburn said. Though PAWS is a private shelter and does not have an open intake policy, they do their best to take in as many animals as possible. Hilburn said intake of animals can vary on a case-by-case basis depending on the animal and if there are major behavioral issues, such as a history of biting. “Do we take them and rehabilitate them? [We do] when we can and when we believe we can turn that behavior around,” she said.
Quinoa explores the outdoor cat patio at PAWS.
PAWS Shelter of Central Texas 500 FM 150 E., Kyle 512-268-1611 www.pawsshelter.org Hours: by appointment only
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SAN MARCOS BUDA KYLE EDITION • OCTOBER 2022
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