AMARILLO, TEXAS -- The number of animals picked up by Amarillo Animal Control nearly doubles between the months of May and September.
That is why officers are asking pet owners to put proper identification, such as collars, tags and microchips, onto their animals.
"Animals that have some form of identification, or if we have additional information from a neighbor, we will put them into a separate location and we try to hold them a little bit longer to see if we can, in fact, contact an owner," Animal Control Executive Director Mike McGee said.
Microchips are scanned the moment an animal is picked up off the street, and again when the animal is taken into the shelter.
"Before a reclaim, an adoption or an euthanasia process is gone through, it's scanned again," McGee added.
If animals are identified, the owners are contacted by a phone call or a message that is left on their door. Once the animals are checked in to the shelter, people wanting to reclaim them have to go through a verification process.
A city ordinance requires the shelter to keep the animals for 72 hours- that time period does not include weekends and holidays. The shelter also provides an online report giving the names and descriptions of the animals brought in.
