A Look Back at 2018!

Last year we were overwhelmed with nostalgia as we celebrated the SPCA of Texas’ 80th anniversary. It’s remarkable how far our organization has come since 1938, growing from the small group that was operating out of our founder’s home to the oldest and largest animal welfare organization in North Texas.

Each and every one of the 80 years presented its own opportunities and challenges, and 2018 was no different. We’d like to share with you some of our proudest statistics from last year!

Thanks to the incredible efforts of our Community Pet Program team, the SPCA of Texas was able to provide 13,240 spay/neuter surgeries completely free of charge. This amazing program is possible thanks to the generous funders of the Southern Dallas Pet Initiative, which provides free spay/neuter and vaccinations to residents of 23 Southern Dallas zip codes. Last year we increased our free spay/neuter surgery numbers by 58% over our 2017 total of 8,360.

We adopted out 140 horses, a 109% increase over 2017’s total of 67. Thanks to support from the Watershed Animal Fund and our work with the Right Horse Initiative, the SPCA of Texas Equine and Livestock team is finding even more homes for horses and other equines in transition, often rescued from cruelty and neglect cases. Our horses have gone on to be companion animals, trail horses and even beginner horses for kids!

Last but not least, we want to make sure we highlight the incredible growth of our foster program. Not only did we more than triple the number of adoptions out of foster, we saw a 61% increase in the number of foster parents enrolled in the program and a 41% increase in the number of animals we were able to place in foster homes. At any given time, around a third of our total population is in foster. We’re always looking for more Foster Heroes to join our team, so if you have been thinking about opening your heart and your home to a pet in need, please visit spca.org/foster.

These are by no means the only achievement we made in 2018! For more stories and statistics from last year, please check out our full annual report here.