Sharon Dooley wasn’t sure what kind of dog she wanted the day she walked into Tri-City Animal Shelter, but she knew the kind of dog she didn’t want: a big one. She was looking for a companion for herself, and for her Bichon, named Biscuit. She worked long hours as a nurse, and knew that a big dog would need a lot of attention. And food.

John Coward of Cedar Hill has always had an affection for wolves, and for older dogs. So when he spotted 8-year-old Lobo at Tri-City Animal Shelter in March of 2024, he knew he had found the dog he was looking for. Lobo was a husky, but his coloring and features were most definitely lupine.

Deborah Binder’s first puppy from Tri-City Animal Shelter was what they call in the biz a Foster Fail. She was supposed to temporarily care for a collie mix named Charlie, who was just a few weeks old. Deborah already had two dogs. “And then I had three,” she said. Charlie stayed the next 14 years, until she passed away from old age.

DeSoto Animal Control found Jane, a blue heeler mix, one day last November off East Little Creek Rd after she was hit by a car. Thanks to an x-ray machine donated by Tri- City Friends, the staff could tell that Jane’s front leg was badly injured. Still, she wagged her tail for anyone who came near. A veterinary crew from Operation Kindness – who were at the shelter helping with spays and neuters— soon amputated her leg.

On the sunny afternoon of December 31, Brenda Gonzalez stopped by her sister’s house in Cedar Hill. She was dropping off a few things before heading to their mother’s nearby to get ready for New Year’s celebration.

Tammy Miller, the director of Tri-City Animal Shelter, knows what happens when you underestimate the power of a storm. Twenty years ago, she spent weeks sleeping on an Army cot in south Louisiana, helping with injured and displaced animals from Hurricane Katrina. So last month, when city officials began alerting her to an upcoming ice storm, she left nothing to chance.

Grandpa Charlie, who was 78 pounds and somehow still scrawny, had been at the shelter for weeks. He had been picked up as a stray, and despite their best efforts, the staff at Tri-City Animal Shelter had not been able to get much weight on his bones. He was big. He was sad. Even worse, he was old.

Ashley Cole was away for the Thanksgiving holiday when she got a frantic call from her pet sitter on Black Friday: Her two dogs, Luna and Oso, had gone missing from her backyard in Duncanville. The pair had dug out from one corner of her fence.

You hear this a lot: "I could never work at the shelter because I would want to take them all home." But people do work at the shelter-- and it takes a special kind of heart. Every day, the staff of Tri-City Animal Shelter makes animals in their care feel loved and special, no matter how short or long in their stays.

And sometimes, they actually do take them home. For this special Thanksgiving issue of Tri City Tales, we celebrate all the dogs and cats who came into the lives of the employees, and never left.

Honey, as he was first named, arrived at the vet’s office on a riding lawnmower. He didn’t look like much, with a flea infestation so severe he had scratched off most of his hair. His eyes were red and swollen. He was listless.

When Deb Mullins retired from a longtime career at the Dallas Fire Department in 2020, she decided to spend some of her newfound free time volunteering at Tri-City Animal Shelter. Deb had adopted pets from the shelter since the 1990s, including a once-feral male cat named Charlie who now leads a life of comfort-- with the belly to show for it.

After catastrophic floods swept through Central Texas on July 4, dozens of dogs and cats needed immediate evacuation. Pets that had become separated from their owners were inundating already crowded shelters. To make room, the non-profit Wings of Rescue flew down to evacuate 200 dogs and cats who had been awaiting adoption before the tragedy.

Gayle Bailey first stopped by the animal shelter last April on a whim, on her way to a doctor’s appointment. Her husband Bob had passed away the year before, leaving an emptiness she could not get over. She had always loved cats— they had once had one—and her daughter and granddaughter thought that a new companion might help Gayle fill in the hole in her heart.

In mid-May, someone called animal control after finding a box of abandoned chicks in a parking lot. There were four of them, a fast-growing breed, likely feed store purchased. Based on the timing, the staff suspected the animals had been part of someone’s Easter basket surprise—now unwanted with the holiday passed…

Augustine Serna works for the Cedar Hill Parks and Recreation department, keeping the city’s public grounds trimmed and tidy. One day in April, he was cutting brush around the pond at Bradford Park when he saw a turtle, a red-eared slider, sunning himself at water’s edge. As Serna moved closer, he realized the animal was in distress, with a fishhook caught in its mouth.

Last November, DeSoto animal control officer Michelle Romualdo answered a call about a stray dog hanging around a DeSoto church. She arrived to find a black doodle mix cowering behind the building. As she slowly approached, the dog disappeared into a ravine next to Ten Mile Creek.

Like a lot of teenagers, Amaya Stephens wanted a new pet. Unlike a lot of teens, she settled on a bunny. Bunnies are soft, usually affectionate, and adorable beyond measure. Also—appealing to the younger crowd— all the Tik Tok bunny owner accounts.

It was Christmastime. Betsy Jones wanted her little boy, Crù, to have the gift he’d been begging for: a new pet. At first, he wanted a parrot, which, his mom told him, “Wasn’t happening.” 

He was spotted wandering on Maple Grove Drive in Cedar Hill, skittish and malnourished. The staff at Tri-City Animal Shelter had been trying to catch him for days. A street pig.

When James Hicks retired nine years ago, he never planned on a second career. After working decades in the grocery distribution business, he was ready for time off. He was in his late 70s by then. He spent his time doing retiree stuff: volunteering at his church, riding his bike and walking his German shepherd.