Small shelter, big mission
Tucked away behind Main Street in downtown Joshua sits a building that many residents may only visit once— but for the animals and staff inside, it’ s a place of second chances, hard work and community support. Joshua Animal Services may be a small municipal shelter, but its impact reaches far beyond its walls.
Animal Services Manager Tommy Miller said the shelter’ s mission goes beyond simply housing stray animals— it’ s about public service, animal welfare and community partnerships.
“ The thing that we need, and it’ s most important for us to get the message out there, is that we can only provide those services for the citizens of Joshua because that’ s how we’ re funded,” Miller said.“ We’ re not a county shelter. We are here to provide services for the citizens of Joshua.”
The shelter has limited space, which makes managing animal intake and care a constant balancing act.
In an ideal situation, the shelter could house around 18 cats and eight dogs at a time. However, reality often looks different, especially during busy seasons when stray and surrendered animals increase.
The shelter includes indoor and outdoor dog runs and cat enclosures designed to help reduce disease transmission— a major concern in animal shelters.
“ Every day at the shelter is the first day of school,” Miller said.“ They’ re from outside in the community, and we don’ t know what they’ ve been exposed to … when
JOSHUA ANIMAL SERVICES Location: 100 Santa Fe St., Joshua, TX Hours: 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. Monday through Friday Contact: 817-774-9450 animalservices @ cityofjoshuatx. us Services: Animal control, adoptions, lost and found pets, animal welfare services Service Area: City of Joshua residents only Volunteer Opportunities: Dog walking, cat socialization, shelter assistance Donations Accepted: Pet food, cleaning supplies, towels, blankets, toys, and monetary donations
they all intermingle, cross-contamination can happen.”
Because of this, staff work carefully to minimize contact between animals and keep them as healthy as possible during their stay.
Over the past year, Joshua Animal Services has implemented several programs that are already making an impact in the community. These include:— Active patrol in the community— A trap-neuter-return program for feral and community cats— A barn cat program for unadoptable outdoor cats
— Partnerships with rescue and placement organizations across North Texas and beyond
Through these partnerships, some animals from Joshua have even been transferred to shelters as far away as Maine for adoption opportunities.
The trap-neuter-return program in particular appears to be helping reduce the number of stray cats entering the shelter.
“ We are seeing what we believe to be the rewards of that,” Miller said.“ Where we might have seen 60 to 80 kittens last year, right now we’ re in the teens on those intakes.”
Joshua Animal Services relies heavily on community support through donations and volunteers.
While many people donate pet food, toys and treats, Miller said the most helpful donations are often everyday operational supplies used for cleaning, maintenance and daily care of the animals.
The shelter also helps residents in need by providing donated pet food to seniors and families facing difficult times, so they can keep their pets rather than surrender them.
“ That’ s the importance of bringing us treats and foods and things like that,” Miller said.“ If someone has suffered a hardship and just needs a little help, we provide that to people in our community.”
Volunteers also play a major role in the shelter’ s success by walking dogs, socializing cats and helping make animals more adoptable.
“ We have a good group, and we’ ve got a lot of support within the community,” Miller said.
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