Inside the County of El Paso’s plans for a new animal shelter
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)-- El Paso County will soon have its first animal shelter. For years, the City of El Paso has managed animals services for El Paso residents. According to Adan Parra, El Paso Animal Services operations manager, the new county shelter may decrease intake at the city-run shelters by up to 18%.
So far this year, El Paso Animals Services has taken in around 20,000 animals, and they are on track to take in 4,000 more by the end of the year.
"It's definitely a big plus for us," Parra said. "Any relief that we can see here at the shelter is definitely going to be a big benefit to us, but we don't know. It's unsure and we're unclear. You know, how long it's going to take for the design phase when that's finally going to be, accomplished."
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego says the county has not yet decided on a location for the new shelter, which was approved by voters in the 2024 election, but county leaders want to makes sure it's in a central area.
"We're still trying to figure out what our challenges are, and then how can we, depending on the amount it costs for land, if it's our land that we could make it bigger, if it's not our land, then we have to reduce because we're limited to the amount of money we have," Samaniego said.
Preposition E, which provides money for the county shelter, was approved by voters for $32.2 million. Parra says its early in the planning process, and although his team is unsure of the details of the facility, he believes reducing overcrowding at the city shelter face will improve quality of life for all animals.
