The City of Wichita said a policy at the emergency winter homeless shelter will allow for pets to be housed for a period of time during severe winter storms and cold snaps.
The issue came up during a discussion Tuesday at the regular City Council meeting, after Wichita police reported that 76 out of 110 homeless people contacted by the Homeless Outreach Team had refused to go to shelter during the past weekend’s winter storm. Vice-Mayor Maggie Ballard said people don’t want to be separated from their pets and more work needs to be done to get the word out on the pet policy.
The city said unhoused residents staying in the emergency winter shelter are able to bring pets to the Wichita Animal Shelter for where they will be held for 72 hours and taken care of at no cost until the winter storm has passed. After leaving the shelter, pets will also receive free spay/neuter service and vaccinations.
