Kerr County Animal Shelter Overwhelmed After Deadly Floods

Shelter staff worked to reunite families with lost pets while turning away animals falsely claimed as disaster victims.

Published on Feb. 21, 2026

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In the aftermath of deadly July floods in the Texas Hill Country, the Kerr County animal shelter was overwhelmed with displaced pets. Shelter staff scrambled to reunite families with lost dogs and cats, but some residents from outside the flood zone attempted to surrender pets under false claims, straining the shelter's limited resources and threatening efforts to keep displaced animals until their owners could find them.

Why it matters

The influx of animals, including some falsely claimed as flood victims, put a strain on the Kerr County animal shelter's capacity and resources, making it more difficult to reunite displaced pets with their rightful owners during a critical time of recovery.

The details

Kerr County Animal Services shelter manager Nichole Golden said people taking advantage of the limited resources available negatively affected rehoming and reunification efforts. The shelter only allows strays to be held for up to 72 hours for owners to reclaim them, so animal nonprofit Kerrville Pets Alive and the shelter began reaching out to other organizations for help as their available space quickly dropped after housing up to 100 animals in the first week. To preserve limited housing capacity, the false flood-related surrenders were turned away.

  • In the first week after the deadly July floods, the Kerr County animal shelter housed up to 100 animals.
  • The shelter only allows strays to be held for up to 72 hours for owners to reclaim them.

The players

Nichole Golden

Shelter manager for Kerr County Animal Services.

Karen Guerriero

Executive director of the animal nonprofit Kerrville Pets Alive.

Reagan Givens

Director of Kerr County Animal Services.

Dr. Debra Zoran

Director of the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team, which provided aid to search-and-rescue dogs during the floods.

Austin Pets Alive

An animal services nonprofit that assisted Kerrville Pets Alive with rehoming and fostering efforts.

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What they’re saying

“That hurt because we're struggling so hard to keep enough space for these animals to be here long enough for their families to come looking for them, or even next of kin, and these people just didn't care.”

— Nichole Golden, Shelter manager for Kerr County Animal Services (statesman.com)

“In a disaster, (shelters) are spread all the way from Hunt all the way to the Comfort area, all along the river, so we knew the volunteer fire departments, the churches, the ones that were going to be people shelters.”

— Karen Guerriero, Executive director of Kerrville Pets Alive (statesman.com)

“People wanted to bring donations and all of this sort of stuff for the animals that were being rescued and so they would see us at Kerrville High School, and so they would bring stuff.”

— Dr. Debra Zoran, Director of the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team (statesman.com)

What’s next

Officials said they hope a new, expanded animal shelter facility will be online early this year to better serve the community.

The takeaway

The influx of animals, including some falsely claimed as flood victims, put a strain on the Kerr County animal shelter's capacity and resources, highlighting the need for expanded facilities and better coordination among animal welfare organizations during disaster response efforts.