Our featured pet of the week from the animal shelter in Texarkana is a Benji looking dog which is actually a mixed breed dog. This boy appears to be pretty young. His Animal ID is 74994 and Form No. 223829. He was found as a stray by a Texarkana citizen and taken to the shelter.

He is in a kennel with two other dogs so it appears that he gets along well with other dogs. He has been at the shelter since September 26. He doesn't have a name listed on his paper work yet. If you go to the shelter, he is on the adoption floor in the last kennel on the right.

This boy's personality will really come out when he spends a little more time away from the shelter. He spent the first few minutes taking care of business which means he may already be house trained or, the training will be easy since he already has that mindset. He walked well on a leash with minimal pulling. He has a medium energy level.

Have you noticed that a lot of the dogs from the shelter do not have names. You can help name the dogs at the shelter. Send your name suggestion lists to the shelter to help them use unique pet names.

Last week's Pet of the Week is still at the shelter waiting to be adopted. Her video is below and her Animal ID is 74973 and Form No. 223853.

The shelter's adoption fees range from $20 to $201, depending on the gender and size of the animal or whether they have been spayed or neutered yet. You can take your pets to be microchipped at the animal shelter for only $20. That way, if your pet is ever lost, it can be returned to you quickly.

The Featured Pet of the Week from Nov. 15 is Still at the Shelter

Big Black Beautiful Labrador at the Texarkana Animal Shelter

This girl was adopted but sadly the new family had to return her to the shelter because she would fight with the other, smaller dogs when they tried to get close to the owners.

The animal shelter has three basic areas for dogs: The intake area where the kennels for the dogs are listed as "HP" which stands for Hold Pending. When dogs first arrive at the shelter, this is where they go first. The next area is the lower building that is attached to the adoption floor by a long hallway. The lower building is usually called the Stray building and the kennels are listed with a "S" in front of the numbered cage. In that building there are 15 stray kennels, with another five kennels set aside behind a gate often used for bite cases. Those kennels are marked as "OB." This area is often used for overflow when there aren't any bite cases. The area that most people see is the Adoption Floor. The kennels on the adoption floor are marked with a "D" in front of the cage number. That stands for Dog.

Dogs on Adoption Floor

Stray and Owner Surrender Dogs in Lower Building

Our animal shelter is a "kill shelter" which means dogs and cats are euthanized when lack of space becomes an issue. Some weeks there are more animals put down than other weeks. Most city ran shelters are open admission facilities like Texarkana's, which means they cannot turn cats and dogs away because there isn't any room. It is up to the community to help our local shelter and there are several ways to help:

• Please spay and neuter your pets.
• Microchip your pets.
• Volunteer to help educate citizens about the need to spay and neuter their animals.
• Get the word out by sharing this post on your social media pages.
• Go to the shelter and take your own photos and videos to share with friends.
• Donate money to the shelter to help cover spay and neuter costs for people that want to adopt a pet but they cannot afford all of the upfront costs.
• Donate materials and money to help replace outdated equipment.

The Animal Care and Adoption Center is located at 203 Harrison St., Texarkana, Ark., 71854 and is open Monday through Friday from 11AM and 5PM and Saturdays from 11AM to 2PM. Our shelter takes in animals from many surrounding communities. Please remember to check with the shelter if you have lost a pet or if you are interested in adopting a new pet.