Waco’s animal shelter has reduced the number of animals in its care by hundreds over the past year, according to an annual update presented to the Waco City Council this week, as a new operating model shifts focus toward prevention and faster outcomes.
Animal Services Director Melissa Sheldon said the shelter’s total inventory — including animals housed on site and in foster care — dropped from nearly 900 last year to about 250 today.
“In 2024, the total inventory, both in shelter and in foster, crept close to 900 animals in care,” Sheldon told council members. “Today, the total number of animals in care is closer to 250 animals.”
The change follows the city's takeover of Pet Circle Waco in 2024. Sheldon said the city has expanded community services, including a pet food pantry, free microchipping clinics and intervention programs that help families avoid surrendering animals during temporary crises.
“This decline can be attributed to an increase in community programming, mainly designed to keep pets with their people,” she said.
The shelter is also seeing improved outcomes for animals that do enter the system. Sheldon said return-to-owner rates increased by 3.7 percentage points from 2024, and animals are spending less time in kennels before adoption.
“This consistency has led to an eight-day decrease for dogs and a four-day decrease for cats,” she said.
City leaders praised the progress, calling the reduction in shelter population a dramatic improvement from conditions just two years ago, when hundreds of animals were relying on foster homes due to overcrowding.
However, Sheldon said challenges remain outside the shelter walls. Waco’s animal protection officers are responding to far more calls than comparable cities, despite the reduced shelter population.
“Waco is receiving about four times the calls of cities ten times our size,” she said.
Sheldon attributed some of that volume to public misunderstanding about the role of animal control officers, noting that responding to loose animals is often not their top priority.
“The perception is that their main responsibility is catching stray dogs — and that’s actually one of their lower-priority calls,” she said, adding that officers also investigate cruelty and neglect cases, handle dangerous animal incidents and respond during emergencies.
Looking ahead, Sheldon said the shelter is preparing for its next phase, including construction of a new medical clinic expected to open in late 2026. The facility is intended to improve disease isolation and free up kennel space currently used for medical care.
Despite ongoing staffing pressures, Sheldon said the system is in a far more stable position than it was in recent years.
“2025 was a record year for Pet Circle,” she said.
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