Christmas will be a happier time for several dogs and their new families, thanks to a collaboration between the Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine (TTUSVM) and the Amarillo Animal Management & Welfare department (AAMW).
Nine dogs were primed and ready for adoption at the second annual Paws for the Holidays event, held recently at Contagion Athletics and sponsored by the two organizations. The pets were part of a number of dogs chosen from the AAMW shelter at the beginning of last semester by TTU vet school students, with the goal to socialize, spay and neuter, vaccinate and present the dogs to the public for good, forever homes toward the end of the semester.
The event went well on Saturday, Dec. 2. Many people attended, and three dogs ended up with new homes. The hope is to give dogs a better chance at being adopted by working with them, training them, teaching them manners and tricks and making them family compatible. At last year’s event, all the dogs were adopted eventually.

After the event, as of Friday, there were still five dogs ready for adoption, and anyone interested can contact Trista Mills at trista.mills@ttu.edu for more information.
“We believe that by getting them used to people and interacting with different students, they will be more adoptable,” said Mills, Assistant Professor of Veterinarian Practice at TTUSVM. The program is new, but it seems to be working well, according to Mills.

AAMW was at the event to help with adoption paperwork for the dogs.
At the beginning of each semester, the students will get a new group of around 20 dogs to work with, train, treat and find homes for.

It is a well-known fact that the economy has been hard on families; many dogs have been surrendered and dumped due to the high costs of maintaining a pet, as well as caring for a family.
So far this month in the first week, as of the Dec. 6 daily report card from AAMW, the shelter has had a total intake of 81 dogs, and the dog kennels were 107% full. The dog outcome totals (adoption, return to owner and rescue / relocate) for December was at 45, with 24 of those being dog adoptions.

But when there is a will, there is a way. There is still time to give a pet a home and enrich a family’s life.
For more information about TTUSVM, visit https://www.depts.ttu.edu/vetschool/ .
For more information about AAMW, visit https://amw.amarillo.gov/ or go to their Facebook page.
