Jennifer Blackson, executive director of the Hill Country Animal League, wants to dissuade people from dumping animals and abandoning them in the wild. Photo by Joni Simon

Two German shepherds bound out of their crates and, like large, lovable children, leap on Jennifer Blackson, executive director of the Hill Country Animal League.

The two of them, mother and son, were abandoned alongside the highway for four days. They both came willingly enough to the shelter for care. Another pup ran toward the hills, unable to be caught by its rescuers, while a third puppy’s jaw was so severely broken, it had to be euthanized.

“We can tell people if you have an animal, taking it to animal control may not be the option you want, but if you look at the reality of it, when they take it to animal control, it’s going to live or it’s going to die,” Blackson said.

“You know what’s going to happen to it. If you dump it on the side of the road, you don’t know what’s going to happen to it. It could get injured and sit in a ditch for days before it dies. There’s this unknown of dumping animals. How people can dump animals and not have this conscious of the unknown is beyond me.”

In each crate, in each cage at the facility, there lies a cat or dog with its own tale of woe. Some of the animals cower when a visitor raises a hand to pet them, while others still trust and hope.

One very small dog wags his tail at the sight of a visitor. With floppy ears and bright eyes, the little mutt is too cute to resist. But, he can’t be touched. He came to the shelter with a severe case of sarcoptic mange that now covers his small body and no matter how much his eyes reveal yearning for the touch of a human hand, he has to wait until his very contagious condition clears up.

He was an Internet purchase that his former owner had not seen before receiving. Ignorant cruelty, Blackson calls it. Loving arms will have to wait, but Birgit Duffy, the clinic’s head veterinarian technician, says the 3-month-old pup is getting there.

“We’re not going to adopt this puppy out until he’s completely healthy. It’s kind of a bummer right now because we can’t socialize him with other dogs,” Duffy said. “We can’t handle him because he’s so contagious. He just stays in his cage right now. He’s been in his cage for three weeks. He probably has another three to six weeks to go.”

The week of May 4 is “Be Kind to Animals” week. According to Blackson, the kindest thing anyone can do is listen to Bob Barker, who for all those years, beseeched his audience to spay or neuter their pets. “Something else that could be considered as cruelty is allowing a dog to continuously have puppies when there are options out there. We’re a low cost spay and neuter clinic,” Blackson said. “Just this week I’ve gotten five phone calls from people, who have nine puppies each. How many puppies is that? That’s 54 puppies right there. There aren’t enough homes for all the dogs.”

Nor are there enough homes for all the cats.

“Cats are a huge problem. Last year, the pound took in 1300 cats and they killed 1100,” Blackson said. “The majority of those were feral. These are cats that people don’t get fixed and one turns into 20 and then, 30. If you have five cats and none of them are fixed, then let’s get them fixed. You can deal with five cats. No one can deal with 25 cats.”

Several animal groups, including Wildlife Rescue and animal control, are in the process of forming an umbrella organization along with the Hill Country Animal League that would create a trap, neuter and release program.

“There is no sense in all of these cats dying when it’s as simple as spaying and neutering,” Blackson said. “Boerne is so lucky to have its spay and neuter clinic.”